Raven's Flight
by IceFlameZ
Summary: With the opening of the Dreamaria Region for trainers, Ash Ketchum is determined to start his journey from this new region. From catching completely new Pokemon to coming face-to-face with Team Shift, a new organization determined to make its mark on the world, Ash's journey will be full of hurdles. But he is determined to fly above these hurdles and become the greatest ever.
1. Just The Beginning

**TIME FOR SOME A/N.**

**READ THE A/N AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER, PLEASE**

**TO START THINGS OFF, I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A HUGE FAN OF FANFICTION. I REMEMBER HOW I STARTED. I WANTED ASH AND MAY TO GET TOGETHER, AND ONE OF MY FRIENDS RECOMMENDED POKEMON FANFIC. FROM THERE, THINGS ELEVATED, AND BEFORE I KNEW IT, I STARTED TAKING ADVICE FROM STORIES, AND DECIDED TO WRITE MY OWN.**

**ALL RIGHT THEN, I PLAN TO DO A NEW VERSION OF AN ASH JOURNEY FIC. THIS WILL HAVE ASH GOING THROUGH A FICTIONAL REGION CALLED DREAMARIA, A LAND WHERE DREAMS ARE SAID TO COME TRUE, HOME TO JIRACHI.**

**UPDATES WILL BE SLOW, MAYBE ONCE EVERY MONTH, OR SO, BECAUSE BETWEEN ISN'T BETRAYAL JUST GREAT, SCHOOL, AND MY PERSONAL LIFE, I WILL GET VERY LITTLE TIME FOR THIS, BUT I HOPE THAT I DO JUSTICE TO IT.**

**THE REGION OF DREAMARIA IS THE CREATION OF MY IMAGINATION, SO BARE WITH ME. THERE ARE A LOT OF THINGS DIFFERENT TO THE GAMES AND CANON. READ THE PROLOGUE FOR AN EXPLANATION.**

**ASH IS GOING TO TRAIN HARD AND WILL BE DENSE, THOUGH, THAT WILL GO DOWN. HIS DENSENESS WILL BE ONE-SIDED. HE WILL HAVE CRUSHES, BUT WILL NOT PICK UP ANY HINTS GIRLS GIVE HIM. EXPECT HIS POKEMON TO BE TOUGH, BUT NOT TOUGH ENOUGH TO NEVER LOSE. ASH WILL BE STRONG, BUT NOT INVINCIBLE. HE WILL GAIN DIFFERENT POKEMON THAN THE ANIME.**

**ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU WANT THROUGH REVIEWS AND PMS I WILL TRY TO ANSWER THEM, IF I CAN.**

**NOW WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED!**

* * *

><p><strong>PROLOGUE<strong>

* * *

><p>Ah, Pallet Town, the border between the Kanto, Johto, and Dreamaria Regions. The soft wind that blew across this place spoke volumes of the rural yet promising landscape of this area. The wind carried along with it generations of rich history, with traces of fine dirt and sand. The sun shined bright everyday of the summer season, while the winter season had its effect on the town, coating it in snow, and casting a beautiful view for any passerby. But despite all this, Pallet Town was the least populated town in all of the three regions, even Newbark Town had more occupants and residents than this town. But nobody who lived hear regretted it, as sooner than not, the residents realized that life was easy in this modest town. Among these residents was the oh-so familiar Ash Ketchum, born and raised. He was one of the people of this town, who knew the whole town by heart, and was not afraid to explore further than the town's poorly marked boundaries. Now, when one hears about this town's neighbors, one creates an image that this town is a hustling and bustling metropolis, but apart from a few shops, a decent market, and the famous Professor Oak's laboratory, this town had pretty much nothing, except for the house of our Pokemon Master-in-training.<p>

Pallet Town harbored the border of the three regions: Kanto to the north, Johto to the east, and Dreamaria to the west. The Kanto region was a typical region, with its vast landscape and lush scenery. Along with Johto, this region was the home of most starting trainers. The two regions only contained Pokemon, which were directly born in them, so the amount of foreign Pokemon was not much in these regions.

Dreamaria, however, was a whole other story.

This region was the home to Pokemon from all over. It was found many years ago, but it was a barren land with no population. Scientists soon found out that this land had much potential as one of the largest natural resource reserves. The development of this area started not long after, and Pokemon were transported here. Whole families had to migrate, and they were kept in a safe environment, supplied with food and water, till they were stable enough to go out in the wild. The League and Contest Circuit was established a few years ago, in this region, as the number of trainers wanting to explore this new region was sky-rocketing, and they needed a system to facilitate these trainers, and after a vote, it was decided that a Pokemon League along with 10 gyms should be made for this region, as well as a Contest Circuit, along with 6 ribbons. And so, towns were made, cities were built, gym leaders and types were assigned, a whole new Elite Four was chosen, contest halls were built, the grand festival was set up, but in the end, the development of this region was finished, and that is where our story begins . . .

* * *

><p><strong>CHAPTER 1<strong>

* * *

><p>Ash yawned. The Pidgeys, Hoothoots, and Tailows chirped wildly, yet in a beautiful manner. As he looked at his room, he realized how modest it was. All it had was a bed, a dresser, and a closet; it was perfect for his needs. There was no alarm clock; the sound of the birds was enough to wake him up. He simply loved nature, and everything and anything about it. Then it all came back to him.<p>

Today was the day.

He made his way into the bathroom and out fifteen minutes later, fully dressed. Downstairs, the smell of his mom's cooking was the first thing that met him, and he made his way into the kitchen to find the table laid with breakfast,

"Hey mom," he said excited. In fact he was so excited, that he forgot his table manners, and started gobbling down his food.

"Hi honey. Up early today, I see," his mom called cheerfully. She knew what day it was and she was incredibly happy for him, though she had grown past the overexcited mom phase where she would hug him fiercely for anything he did, but you couldn't blame her. And you couldn't blame Ash for his fast pace in eating food at this moment, though, he was never one to be _over_excited.

"I'm always up early," he said satisfied.

Five minutes later, and breakfast was done.

"Well, I'm off," he replied impatiently. If it wasn't for his mom instilling manners into him, Ash would be walking towards the Lab right noe, but he stopped to satisfy the formalities.

"Don't forget to come visit me, before you leave, I've got something for you," Delia called out after him.

"Okay, mom, I won't forget."

As he exited the house, he smiled as he felt the promising wind on his face. He walked towards the laboratory. In no time, he reached the white building to find a boy named Hilbert, and a girl named Hilda, a girl named Leaf, and his rival, Gary, waiting by the stairs.

Hilbert was a boy of average height, shorter than Ash, and thirteen years old. He wore a light blue jacket which was dark blue nearing the collar. His jacket was open from the bottom, revealing a black under shirt. He wore dark grey jeans, which were crumpled nearing the end. He wore what looked like red and black sneakers, as well as a wristwatch, a single-strap bag, and a red and white Pokemon League cap, with a black Pokeball symbol. He had long, brown hair, as well as brown eyes.

Hilda, his sister, was a girl of average height, slightly taller than Hilbert, and thirteen years old. She wore a short and open black jacket, which revealed a white undershirt. She wore wrist gloves, as well as a wristwatch. She wore (very) short blue jeans. She wore mostly black boots with pink soles and laces. She wore a pink and white Pokemon League cap, with a pink Pokeball symbol. She had very long brown hair, which flowed in all directions.

Leaf was a girl of average height. She had long, brown hair which flowed elegantly down to her back, with a mostly white hat. She wore a blue sleeveless shirt with a black collar. She wore a short, pink skirt, as well as a wristwatch and yellow, single-strap bag. She had green eyes, as well.

Gary was a boy of average height, taller than Hilbert but shorter than Hilda. He had tall, spiky brown hair. He wore a simple black V- neck, with blue jeans and black sneakers, as well as a black wristwatch, and a chain, hanging from his jeans' pocket.

Ash was a tall boy and thirteen and a half years old. He had long, black hair, which many referred to as his "raven hair." He wore a black jacket, with grey sleeves, and a grey collar. He wore blue, baggy jeans. He wore blue and white sneakers, as well as black finger-less gloves, with a black wristwatch. He also had a black and blue Pokemon League cap, with a grey Pokeball symbol, which barley covered his hair.

Ash, Hilbert and Hilda were childhood friends. Hilbert and Hilda were born here in Pallet Town, but there parents were originally from Unova. So, Hilbert and Hilda were fascinated by the tales of Unova, and wanted to travel there, as soon as they could, after their first journey in the first of these three connected regions before.

Ash and Leaf were best friends. Leaf was born here in Pallet Town, and her parents were from here as well. She was a good-natured girl, and had a crush on Ash. Everybody knew about it, except, of course, Ash.

Ash and Gary were rivals, but not enemies. They had an ongoing friendly rivalry, however there were times when Gary would become arrogant. These were just small fits, you could say. But there was time when Gary went arrogant and turned the hole school against Ash, except Hilbert, Hilda, and Leaf. However, that all changed when Ash used two of the batting Pokemon at school, a Nidorino and Nidorina, mates, to protect the town against two Ursaring that had wandered out of the forest along the Johto border, and were wreaking havoc. Before Professor Oak could get organized, he just ran out of school, while grabbing two Pokeballs at random, to counter them. He was lucky he ended up with Pokemon who were in tune with one another. Gary was caught in line of one of the Hyper Beams shot by the Ursaring, but Ash used the two Pokemon at his arsenal to protect Gary and he defeated the two Ursaring with two well paced Poison Jabs.

Life had taken a huge turn for Ash since then. He was already a popular boy in school, but since that incident, reporters and girls hogged him wherever he went. Every night, he would thank Arceus for rest after thousands of the same questions asked by the reporters and various marriage proposals by stalking girls had taken their toll on him. Leaf had, basically, fallen in love with him. Ash didn't know, but he was becoming suspicious as LEaf came to him with all her problems - small or big - and expected him to magically make them disappear.

Thank Arceus, that incident had died down by now.

Now, since Pallet town connected the three regions, the starters available were influenced by the region they chose to travel. For Kanto, there were Charmander, Bulbasaur, and Squirtle. For Johto, there was Cyndaquil, Totodile, and Chikorita. The usual starters up till now. For Dreamaria, however, the starters available were the starters from Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, - Torchic, Mudkip, Treeko - Sinnoh, - Chimchar, Piplup, Turtwig - and Unova - Tepig, Oshwaott and Snivy. There was a much wider collection for Dreamaria, as the Pokemon League of this region was, generally, much harder, and trainers should be able to select the Pokemon they are most in tone with.

As for the journeys, Ash had already decided that he would be travelling the Dreamaria Region. Gary, not wanting to let his rival be ahead of him, had decided to travel the same region, and he would choose Squirtle as his starter. Hilbert, Leaf and Hilda were a mystery, however, and so their starters were a mystery, as well, except for Leaf, who had decided that she would get a Bulbasaur, and she would move hell and earth to get it, so the only choices she had were Kanto, and Dreamaria.

"Hey, guys," Ash called out, enthusiastically.

"Hi, Ash!" Hilda and Leaf replied cheerfully. They always were sweet girls, and the first to answer Ash, whenever he talked about something.

"Hey, dude," Hilbert and Gary called nonchalantly. Ash shrugged. They were never one to show enthusiasm, or any kind of excitement, for that matter. After chatting for a while, the doors opened to reveal a familiar pink-haired woman, who had come to greet them.

"Hello kids," Nurse Joy called out happily. Pallet Town had been assigned its own Nurse Joy, when it was revealed to be the border of not only two, but three regions.

"Hi, Nurse Joy," they replied. She led them through a series of confusing corridors, before finally coming to a stop to one of the bigger doors. The door opened to reveal a huge, white room. There were a few tables on which papers were scattered. A few chairs, here and there, nothing fancy up till now. But the main attraction was the huge white and red container, shaped like a Pokeball in the center of the room, with Professor Oak, standing by it.

"Hello, kids. How are you feeling?"

"Fine." They were impatient; who wouldn't be?

The oldtimer laughed. "Eager, are we? All right, welcome to my laboratory, this huge container contains all the Pokeballs, which contain your future starter Pokemon. This will, also, automatically register you for the League, or Contest Circuit of the region you are participating. Let me show you a demonstration on how to choose." He pressed a button labeled "REGION", then said, "Dreamaria," and then pressed a button, labeled "NAME", and said, "test subject," then pressed another button, labeled "OCCUPATION", said, "Professor, then pressed _another _button labeled "POKEMON", and said, "Charizard." The huge Pokeball opened, and it revealed a lot of Pokeballs, piled up, inside it. One Pokeball, guided by some electronic force, levitated out of it. The huge Pokeball closed, while the real sized one opened to reveal a Charizard. The Charizard yawned before going back to its Pokeball.

"That was my Charizard, my starter. He is becoming lazy, that fellow. Now, don't get your hopes up, you are still going to get the traditional starters. Now, please, do the honours. It is along process, I know."

Gary wasted no time, and immediately, walked up to the container. After a few minutes, he was registered for the Dreamaria Pokemon League with a flashy Squirtle in no time. Hilbert registered himself for the Johto Pokemon League, with a Totodile at his side. Leaf, suprisingly, registered herself for the Dreamaria Pokemon League, with a Bulbasaur. There was talk that Leaf would stalk Ash, and travel the Dreamaria Region, but nobody actually _believed_ it. Hilda, registered herself for the Dreamaria Contest Circuit, with her Tepig.

Finally, it was Ash's turn. He walked up to the machine slowly. He filled in the required information, registering himself, Ash Ketchum, for the Dreamaria Pokemon League, before stopping at the Pokemon button. He pressed the button slowly, then said, "Torchic," and a few moments later, the red chick Pokemon presented itself in front of him.

Ash had taken his options into consideration, and decided a long time ago. He saw all the starters for this year, and the nominees for Ash Ketchum's starter Pokemon were Charmander, Squirtle, Treeko, Chikorita, Chimchar, Turtwig, Snivy, and , finally, Torchic. Charmander had already bonded with some ten-year old kid, and they were inseparable. Although, Charmander was his first choice, Ash didn't want to separate what anyone could consider brothers. Squirtle and Snivy were just too much of a nuisance. They were brothers of destruction, and wreaked small-term havoc everywhere in Professor Oak's ranch. Apart from that, they just didn't want to go with anyone, but Ash was sure they would find some mischievous kid. Treeko was afraid of going out into the world, and Ash was to considerate to take away its luxury of staying in the ranch. Chimchar was out of the picture from the start. He had a trainer, previously. That poor little fellow was broken, bruised, abused, and to top it all off: abandoned. The abandonment must have hurt most. For a Pokemon, loyalty was the most important thing; the Pokemon must be loyal to his trainer, and the trainer must remain loyal to his or her Pokemon. Turtwig, however, was alright. He was smart, confident when it came to battles, and a great battler. But, he was lazy, clumsy, and sometimes got overconfident, leading him to loose his battles with other Pokemon from the ranch. Chikorita was a no-go. She had crush on Ash, after Ash's heroic rescue, and, though he didn't know about the crush, Ash was getting fed up with her advances. She would come up to him, whenever he was resting in the ranch, or reading a book, and would rest in his lap and snuggle into him. She would beg for his attention, and constantly lick his cheek. At first, he thought it was cute, however, it became annoying really quickly.

And so it all came down to Torchic. That little Pokemon had spunk in him. He shared Ash's passion to get stronger, and would train hard with Ash every day, whenever Ash would come into the ranch to exercise. During those sessions, Ash and Torchic had bonded and gotten to know one another. That is actually where Ash learned that Torchic was a male Pokemon. So, Ash and Torchic had created a sense of familiarity, but it wasnt easy, as Chikorita and Leaf would keep swooning over Ash's growing muscles.

So, now, in Professor Oak's laboratory, Ash picked up Torchic and placed him on his shoulder.

"I am your new trainer, buddy. I told you I'd pick you, didn't I?" Torchic sounded his approval and sat on Ash's shoulder like a watchdog.

"All right," Professor Oak's voice boomed throughout the room. "Now that we are done with this,let's move to the next and final stage. Here," he picked up an orange device off his desk," this is a Pokedex. It is a machine that will give you information about the Pokemon in front of you. It will tell you its species, its gender, its personality or nature, its ability, and the moves it knows at that point in time. All you have to do is point and click. It will also serve as your identity, as cannot be replaced. So, don't lose it or break it. Other than that, all you need is 5 Pokeballs, and your adventure can begin." He proceeded to hand the five children a Pokedex and 5 Pokeballs each. Nobody wasted any time in pointing their Pokedex towards their starters.

"_Torchic,_" it called out in a monotone voice. "_The Chick Pokemon. A fire burns inside, so it feels very warm to hug. It launches fireballs of 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. This Torchic is Male, and is very brave and patient from birth. The moves in knows include the following: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Night Slash and Flame Burst. It has the following ability: Speed Boost."_

Ash's eyes widened at that. That was a pretty impressive move set for a starter Pokemon! This just made him more determined. Oh yes, they would definitely become much more stronger together, but before that could happen, he had to talk to his mom, and wish his friends goodbye, of course.

"Thank you, Professor," he said gratefully.

"Oh no, my boy. This is my duty."

Ash nodded and addressed his friends, "All right, guys. Its time to leave and become the strongest ever." His friends shook their heads and rolled their eyes at Ash's determination, with the exception of Leaf, who grew hearts for eyes. Ash walked out of the Lab with Torchic on his shoulder, and walked towards his home. He reached it and went inside.

"Hey mom, I'm back!"

"Hi honey, look what I have for you." His mother came out of the kitchen and walked up to him. She was about to pick up Torchic and exclaim about how cute he was, but Torchic growled.

"Sorry, he's kind of protective of me." His mother shrugged, and handed him a box, covered with a red wrapping paper, along with his packed backpack Ash opened the wrapping paper skilfully and gaped at what was inside.

"Mom you know how expensive this is?"

It was a X-Transceiver, the latest model too. It was a polished, metallic black in colour, complete, with a grey strap for his wrist. The screen was an LED high definition screen, with state-of-the-art graphics technology, and the fastest connection in this world. It even had its own satellite which it connected to directly, with no interruptions, allowing calls to be connected instantly, and no dropped calls, and if there were any, then the X-Transceiver was certainly not responsible for it.

"Its okay, honey. Its nothing to me because it doesn't even begin to amount to how important you are to me and how much happiness you have given to me. I love you honey." By now, she had tears in her eyes. She really loved Ash, and he had been a ray of light and hope in her life when his father disappeared.

"Oh, mom, I love you too." He hugged her lovingly, and dried her tears. It hurt his heart to have to leave, but he had to continue his dreams and fight for his passion and what he believes in. "I hope you understand, Mom. I _have _to leave."

"Yes, I do, honey. Now go, get going! By the way, that X-Transciever hasn't come out yet, so its not activated. It'll be a few months before you can use it!" She smiled. Ash took it off, and placed it back into his backpack, before smiling warmly at her, and walked out, with his Mom following. He proceeded to walk away into the sunset, yelling

"Goodbye mom, Ill make sure to call!"

"Goodbye, honey. Don't you dare forget to keep in contact!" She called out after him, smiling as she watched him go off into the sunset, muttering,

"He's just like him."

* * *

><p>Ash had reached the border of Celestial Forest. He was slowly learning that he had given his mom much less credit than she deserved. She had worked hard, to pack his backpack. It was complete with packed meals, a map, water bottles, Pokemon feed, rope, potions, and bowls and plates, as well as a manual for the Dreamaria Region. He learned that the forest along the Dreamarian border, Celestial Forest, was given its name because of the Pokemon living there. They were mainly Electric Pokemon present, and the electromagnetic forces of these Pokemon let out sharp, bright glows which, ultimately, gave the forest a angelic, beautiful and celestial glow.<p>

Torchic had remained quite throughout the small journey, his excitement and eagerness killing any words - or sounds - he might have made, but Ash could tell he was psyched about this.

He smiled as he saw the wide expanse of trees. The next few weeks were going to be oh, so long, but he would have fun, catch a new, electric Pokemon, if he was lucky, and get some experience. However, his peaceful thinking session didn't last long, as a red car pulled up next to him, and Gary jumped out.

"There you are, Ashy-boy. Been looking all over for you." Ash sighed.

"What do you want, Gary?" He wanted no more than to just start his adventure, and fell the heat, light, wind and dirt on his face, which came with the wild.

"I just want to beat my rival, before I go on and become the greatest. Then you can say you battled the Champion," he stated smugly. Ash rolled his eyes at that, but immediately hyped up when the whole sentence hit him. He agreed with Gary. There would be no better way to venture into the great Dreamaria Region and start his adventure than to fight with his rival.

"All right," he said excitedly and turned his neck to look at Torchic. "What do you say? Up for a battle?" Torchic responded by jumping off his shoulder, and getting into a battle stance. Gary threw out his Pokeball, revealing his Squirtle. Squirtle knew it was a battle and stood smugly.

Ash and Gary cleared some space, and stood away from the two Pokemon.

Then the battle started.

"Tackle, Squirtle!" Squirtle charged at Torchic, however Torchic seemed unfazed. It waited for Squirtle to reach it, and then simply jumped out of the way. Squirtle was inexperienced, and couldn't control himself as he wasn't trained to maneuver and manage himself while taking less pressure from its shell, and kept going and collided with one of the trees. Wartortle and Blastoise were generally much more adept at that skill, however Squirtle were weak and required a lot of training and experience before it reached that certain skill level where it could maneuver itself with its shell. That was the point where the Squirtle line usually evolved.

Training Pokemon was an art, and battling them was a skill.

Torchic, however, was on a whole other level, due to its training with Ash. The two would finish each other's sentences, if Torchic could talk, and that was another reason why Ash thought he was justified in picking Torchic. That was shown here, when Torchic wasted no time and ran at Squirtle with its claws glowing. Ash would have commanded it to use Scratch, but Torchic knew that already, and weighed its chances. Its claws scratched deep into one of Squirtle's legs. It then glowed red, and when the glow faded, Torchic seemed more energetic and powerful.

"What the hell was that?" Ash winced at Gary's language. His friend and rival was never one to think about what he said and opted to face the consequences, no matter how dire they were.

"That was Speed Boost, Torchic's ability. It makes it faster and - "

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Come on, Squirtle, get it together!" The dazed and hurt Squirtle sluggishly turned around and glared at Torchic. Ash had no time to play; he had to leave now, if he wanted to make some good time, before the sun went down.

"Night Slash!" Torchic's claws radiated an eerie, dark light and Torchic rammed them into the Pokemon's vulnerable underbelly. Squirtle was mercilessly thrown against the tree, which must have hurt hard, for such a young Pokemon, and fell onto ground.

He didn't get back up. He was out cold.

Torchic turned towards Ash, proud of its first proper victory. The Pokemon at the lab were not much of a challenge, for it, at least, not the other starters. Other, older Pokemon like Professor Oak's Charizard or Dragonite would kill Torchic with one Flame Thrower, probably. Torchic wasn't about to experiment. At least, this squirtle knew how to attack, even though it couldn't run properly, as it stumbled a lot, during its charge. Torchic didn't jump on his shoulder, as it wanted to test out it's skills gifted to it temporarily by its ability. They walked off into the forest, leaving Gary with his unconscious Pokemon, muttering,

"That thing shouldn't know how to use Night Slash."

* * *

><p>As Ash walked on the muddy path of the Celestial Forest, he thought back to the battle. Gary could have easily won that battle, if he knew how to exploit his Pokemon's abilities to his advantage. Torchic would have been out if a well-placed Water Gun could have hit him. They would work on Torchic's resistance when they found a suitable area to camp and train.<p>

Speaking of the little guy, Torchic was resting in his Pokeball. They had been walking for a long time, and Torchic's legs had given way to exhaustion, eventually. Also, his claws were digging deep into the mud, making it more difficult to walk than usual. Ash was on alert the whole time they were walking, but there were some moments when e would allow himself to be distracted by the beauty of the wild flowers and the simple and elegant green colour of the leaves. He had no need to be worried. He was still not in the deep parts of the forest, where the more aggressive, wild Pokemon habituated. The Spearow flock, which had nested in Pallet Town's bordering forests and routes would not disturb them, as they dare not venture into the home of the electric-typed Pokemon who would zap them without thinking.

Soon enough, Ash reached a large clearing, with enough space for training, and to set up their tent a fair and safe distance away from the training area, sheltered by some overgrown trees, which were bending due to the stress of old age. Torchic had been out of his Pokeball for a while, now, and was walking cheerfully on the now, hard floor of the forest. Ash had to be extra careful now' they were in the deeper part of the forest. But, his determination to become stronger got the best of his worries, and after setting up camp, finding wood to burn, a water source to fill his empty water bottles and eating he got to training. All that took time, yes, but ws necessary for one's survival in the wild.

It was gentle, at first, just running some laps around the clearing, with Torchic hot on his heels. He did some push-ups and press-ups, and Torchic watched impatiently and eagerly. It would have to wait till it evolved into a Combusken if it wanted to do push-ups. But, that was just the warm up. Torchic learned that his trainer was a maniac when it came to training, when his turn finally came, and Ash expected him to burn a rock. It was to power up its already known attacks, before they would move to a different attacks. There was no point in trying to learn new attacks if one hadn't mastered the attacks they know from the start, was Ash's philosophy. Nothing happened after a few Embers, the rock was only heated up. But, Ash convinced him to give it his all, and never give up, and that the rock heating up was a good sign, and that worked. Torchic was soon firing charged up fireballs of intense heat and energy which put some burn marks on the rock. Then came the tutoring session. After scrolling through the list of moves that Torchic could learn through practice Ash decided to try to teach Torchic Focus Energy and Peck. Focus Energy would allow Torchic to gather his wits and stay calm, even in the most dire situations. To top it all off, it would allow him to focus all its concentration on each and every attack, making each and every attack stand up there. Peck would diversify his move set. His move set was already pretty diverse with Night Slash at his disposal, but that wouldn't do any good if he went up against a fighting-type Pokemon. He needed Peck, not only for the type diversity, but also for confidence, both for trainer and Pokemon. Having a wide array of attacks would give you more choices in dire situations, as well as the belief that you can do anything, but one has to keep his pride in check. Overconfidence is the fault of people and Pokemon themselves, not some unearthly force that wants everybody to perish. Ash told Torchic to be calm and clear his head of all thoughts. He told him to only think about centring his energy and focusing onto where you want it: claws for Scratch, Night Slash, while beak for Ember, Flame Burst, Growl, and, hopefully, Peck. It did so, and, sooner than not, it glowed a dull red. Ash smirked at that. The red colour of the glow would distract his opponent. Also it could confuse him, thinking it be the glow of Focus Energy, when it could be Speed Boost. With Focus Energy down, now came the hard part. Torchic had to direct all its energy into its beak and make it glow. It took an hour or so, but it finally got the glow down. Now, it had to practice on dummy opponents, but it had to settle for trees. An hour later, most of the trees surrounding the clearing either had holes in them, or were jagged around the edges. What could be seen in Ash's tent was a Torchic with a badly bruised beak, while Ash tended to its wounds, ignoring the stress on his tired muscles. Torchic was touched by this, and he fully accepted Ash as his trainer, and friend, no matter how hard the training was. Besides, training like this would become second-nature to them after a few months at it, and it wasn't like the training wasn't paying off; Torchic's beak had hardened and strengthened, while its stamina had increased as well as its move set. But, Ash didn't let his quick and good progress get to his head, as he knew that these were the easy moves. The real difficulties were learning moves like Draco Meteor or Blast Burn, and with time, he would make sure he had Pokemon that knew those attacks.

Over the course of the next few days, life carried on as, what would become, usual. Travelling, training, and resting. Those three words were more than enough to describe the lifestyle of the duo. They had been moving deeper into the forest every day, and wild Pokemon had attacked them as well. But, Torchic easily dispersed them with Ember. Ash didn't catch any Pokemon, as none interested him. Most of the Pokemon he encountered were Joltik, or Pikachu. These two species didn't really intrigue him. However, Ash had encountered many trainers, looking for Pokemon or a battle. Torchic made quick work of them, and the duo gained some battle experience. So far, they had an ongoing unbeaten streak. Torchic's claws were hardening bit by bit every day, and now it easily leave a black scorch mark on rocks. Peck was coming along nicely, and they had moved on to the next stage with Focus Energy: combining it with other attacks.

Ash was packing his tent, after a very gruelling training session. He had tried to create a technique called Focus Attacks, where Torchic would combine two attacks, Focus Energy being one. So far, they had got down Focus Ember, Focus Scratch, Focus Growl and Focus Peck. He was not able to test out Flame Burst, as it would harm the environment, and probably make the trees, surrounding the clearing they were in catch fire. Besides. there wasn't enough space, as the clearings they came across were not nearly as big as the first one. Night Slash was becoming a problem. Torchic could Night Slash perfectly, and Focus Energy perfectly, but when combined, it was mayhem. It was an attack of immense power, if perfected. That was the reason behind Torchic's failure. Due to it's small body, it would not be able to contain the energy for a long time, not enough to reach the target Pokemon. So, Ash decided after the first few tries, Torchic would just harm itself if it kept practising. Maybe, Combusken could get it down. Torchic was outside, at the moment. There was still sunlight and he would make some progress today. Ash knew he had to play it safe, due to the danger of damage to muscle tissue, which he learned in school, so he trained every alternate day. Every day in between, he would just do some light exercises. Torchic, however, would not put down its training, at all. But, that was a given, and not dangerous, as the regeneration rate of Pokemon was just too high. After every training session, and a good rest, their muscles would be back to normal, instead of the soreness that humans had to suffer. At the moment, Torchic was keeping guard over the site.

Turns out, it was needed.

Ash heard growling, and he turned around to find a green dog-like Pokemon, growling at him, all the while, watching him pack the bags Pokechow with hunger. Ash didn't want any trouble, he wanted to be on the road, so he took out some Pokechow and threw it at the canine. Apparently, it was trusting, as it gobbled the food quickly and growled at Ash again. Ash smiled and took out one of the bowls and filled it to the brim and handed it to the Pokemon. It sniffed it, and after a moment of hesitation, ate it swiftly. Ash got back to packing and after he was done, he saw that the Pokemon was looking at him challengingly, sizing him up.

"Do you want to battle?" The Pokemon nodded swiftly, without hesitation. Ash called upon Torchic, and said Pokemon jumped down from it's hiding place in the trees.

"Get ready for a battle, buddy. This is an Electrike. They can be quite agile, and strong with their ranged attacks, so try to evade its bolts if you can." There was a spark in Torchic's eyes when it learned that it was going to battle. It took his trainer's advice into consideration, and got ready, after moving to a distance for Electrike.

The canine wasted no time and charged towards Torchic. Ash noticed that's Electrike let out sparks as it ran and realised that Electrike was using Spark. Torchic tried to jump over it but Electrike just managed to brush its fur, sending a jolt throughout its body, which made Torchic shiver.

"Focus Ember." Ash knew that taking Electrike head on would not be wise choice, as the electricity running across its fur could paralyze his friend. Not even Night Slash would be able to amount to anything if Torchic couldn't move. Ranged attacks would be best at this point. His decision turned out to be correct when the Focus Energy-powered Embers hit Electrike and singed his fur, making it howl in pain. It let its anger get the best of it and launched a bolt of electricity at Torchic, which cut through the air, and zipped towards it's opponent. Torchic jumped out of the way, showing off its agility, and launched another ember which burned Electrike's fur. The poor canine barked and vanished. It appeared a split second later, right in front of the chicken and rammed it.

Quick Attack.

Torchic was hurled against a tree, but got back up quickly. Ash was getting impatient and decided to finish it.

"Dusk Scratch." Dusk Scratch was a slightly strengthened version of Night Slash, combining it with Scratch. Nothing too complicated, it was just that Scratch would harden his claws, providing more damage with the ultimate move Torchic knew: Night Slash. For now, Torchic ran towards the dog-like Pokemon with its claws giving off a familiar dark glow. It jumped and came down on it hard, digging its claws into the canine, hurting it immensely. The poor Electrike never stood a chance; it was defeated.

Ash threw a Pokeball at it, and the Pokeball hit it, opened, and sucked it inside. It wiggled for a few times, after falling to the ground. Ash prayed that he would catch it. This Pokemon showed promise, and with training, had the potential to become a very strong Manectric, one which would be accepted by any pack, as it's leader, and that was a topic of respect for these Pokemon. Besides, this was the first Electrike he had seen so far in this forest, and for all he knew, this could be the only one. After what seemed like an eternity, the ball pinged and went still.

Ash.'s face grew a maniacal grin as soon as heard the sound. He wanted this Electrike, and he got it. Another partner to train and befriend. He walked over to the Pokeball and picked it up. He stared at it for a second, then released Electrike. The green Pokemon looked at Ash, before walking to him, and layed down at his feet. Ash smiled; any worries about Electrike rebelling were washed away. He guessed, the food he had given to it made it trust him. He remembered about his Pokedex. He took out the red device and pointed it at the Electrike and clicked. The device sprung into action.

"_Electrike. The Lightning Pokemon. Using electricity stored in its fur, it stimulates it's muscles to heighten it's reaction speed. This Electrike is Male, and is very loyal and accepting from birth. The moves it knows include the following: Spark, Growl, Thunder Shock, Electro Ball and Fire Fang. It has the following ability: Lightning Rod."_

Aah whistled, that was a nice move set. Apparently, his whistle alerted Electrike as the Pokemon jumped up to guard Ash.

"It's fine, buddy." He rubbed its head and spoke to it fondly. "I was just impressed with how impressive you are." The canine looked satisfied with that, and then relaxed. Ash transferred his attention to Torchic, who was waiting patiently. "Great battle, dude." Torchic nodded. "However, why didn't you warn me that Electrike had entered the camp?" Torchic looked at Ash, and shrugged. To anyone, that would have seemed like Torchic didn't care, but Ash knew that his friend knew that Electrike would not hurt him.

Pokemon had a code. This code said that no Pokemon could hurt humans, if they don't hurt them. Cases when Pokemon had gone on a rampage for no particular reason were very rare, and, usually, these Pokemon were considered outcasts. Outcasts had marks on them, which could only be seen by Pokemon. Humans often disturbed Pokemon's way of living, and that would cause them to attack. One Pokemon could tell by the mark who was an outcast and wild, and who was civilised.

Besides, Ash argued, if Torchic had alerted him, he would have probably attacked Electrike and made him run away. That would have been a failure. So, as Torchic jumped on his shoulder, and he picked up the now sleeping Electrike in his arms, Ash thought, his team was more diverse and a Manectric would be able to counter Combusken's or Blaziken's weakness towards Flying-typed Pokemon.

* * *

><p>It was few days later.<p>

Electrike had fit in their training schedule perfectly. Ash had been working with Electrike on Volt Switch, only.

The reason for this was that moves like Volt Switch and Baton Pass were very good alternatives for switching out Pokemon. When Pokemon are thrown out, they do not know if it is for a battle, or for a walk. They are left vulnerable to attacks, in this way. These moves, however, alert Pokemon of the fact that they are in a battle, so they come out with the right mindset required for a battle. Also, Electrike was training hard every day, and Ash had even come up with new techniques for it.

Anyway, Ash was walking with his friends, when a male Pokemon trainer came out of the bushes. Ash thought he wanted a battle. There had been quite a few trainers he had battled in the last few days, and his winning streak was still unbroken.

This trainer, in particular, had long, blue hair. He wore black sunglasses. He wore a pink shirt, covered by a green sleeveless jacket, and a pink undershirt, all the while wearing a cocky and arrogant smirk on his face.

"Excuse me, where did you catch that Electrike? There is supposed to be one in this forest which knows Fire Fang. I have been looking for it for a few weeks now, and haven't been able to find one."

Immediately Ash's eyes widened and he said,

"Well, I am sorry to say but this is the Electrike you are talking about, and I have already caught it, so . . . Why don't you move along? I am sure there are other Electrike on this forest."

The Trainer's eyes widened and he looked at Electrike, who was standing protectively by Ash's feet, before meeting Ash's eyes once again. Realisation dawned upon him, and his face grew red and his lip quivered.

"If that is so," he started with a mischievous glint in his eyes, as he brought out a Pokeball, "why don't we battle for it? If I win, I get your Electrike, and if you win, I give you an Emolga I caught a few days ago."

Ash looked at the trainer like he was an idiot, Just who did he think he is, demanding for a battle, with Pokemon as the stakes. Even if Ash agreed, his friend was worth much more to him than an Emolga! He stared at him and tightly shook his head.

However, this trainer was persistent,

"Chickened out, I see. Well, I can't blame you. No one is brave enough to face the great Damian!" Ash never judged anyone based on first impressions, but this one encounter with the newly-revealed Damian, and Ash was convinced, that this new fellow was an arrogant, selfish and pompous jerk.

"I'll battle you, and I'll beat you, but my Pokemon mean much more to me than they will ever mean to you. I will not bet them, ever."

"You know what? Why don't we just battle? If you win, I'll give you this." He opened his backpack to reveal something very important in Ash's eyes. "A Potion-Carrier, complete with a set of five Super Potions. If I win, then you give me all your money." Unlike Damian thought, Ash nodded his head without hesitation.

Ash had gained quite a bit of money through his battles. These days, in order to fund journeys, the Pokemon League had decided that if a Pokemon Trainer, who was in possession of more than a thousand PokeDollars, lost a battle, then he or she must give some of their money to the winner. Depending on their status, the amount of money was decided; the higher her the status, the more the money lost. However, what Damian didn't know was that all the money Ash had wasn't even half of what the Potion Carrier was worth.

The Potion Carrier was a bag made of the lightest cloth, with different sections for every kind of Potions. This carrier, in particular, was matte red in colour with a black spider design on it. And the best part, it could be attached to his own backpack, like another pocket, so he wouldn't feel like he was carrying a load.

Ash wasn't about to pass up a chance like this, though, he wasn't unfair.

"That's fine by me, but you should know: the money I have isn't even worth half the price of a Potion-Carrier."

"That's fine by me, too. Besides, there is no way I am going to lose."

Ash wasted no time, and took a place a fair distance away from Damian. He had to be careful; he was nearing the city, and there a lot more people wandering the forest. He didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone. He looked at his Pokemon and asked,

"Who wants to battle?"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Electrike stepped forward and growled. Ash realised that his friend was offended by the thought that anyone could take Ash away from him. Torchic showed it's maturity by giving Electrike a chance to regain its pride. Ash nodded.

"All right, let's do this buddy."

Electrike jumped onto the makeshift battlefield. Damian sighed.

"Finally! Lets battle! This is a Pokemon I caught a few weeks ago, before I entered this wretched forest, and it is not that Emolga. Come on out!"

He threw an Ultra Ball into the air, and out came a a purple quadruped Pokemon.

"Meet my Nidorino! We'll be sure to give your Electrike a 100% beating!" Ash took a deep breath as he went over the weaknesses and strengths of a Nidorino. Its main weaknesses were its horn, its backside and its underbelly was the most exposed part of it, and was an easy target, once Ash found out how to expose it. Its horn was the most sensitive part of it. Even one tinge of discomfort to its horn could send the Male Nidoran family on a rampage. However, Ash would have to keep his attacks ranged until he found a way to attack the underbelly. Contact with its horn would send poison flowing through Electrike's veins. And Electrike wasn't skilled enough to have perfect accuracy, which was required to make contact with Nidorino's horns from afar. But Ash would win.

"Poison Jab!" Nidorino started running towards Electrike, his horn glowing a dark and eerie purple, which was visible against its lighter purple skin. Judging by Electrike hunching back, and getting ready to dodge, Ash guessed that his friend had the same plan as him. Just as Nidorino was about to hit him, his friend used Quick Attack to dodge and proceed to run circles around the poison beast. The Pokemon was startled by this sudden burst of speed, and got confused. It got into position to defend wherever Electrike attacked him from.

"Rapid Fang." This was one of Electrike's new techniques. It combined the speed of Quick Attack, and the power of Fire Fang. Quick Attack would increase the amount of Fire Fangs his friend could use before the opponent gained the opportunity to retaliate, and it would also increase its power, as it would speed up the movements of its muscles, and cause it it _munch_ strongly. As suspected, Electrike jumped out from his running circle and bit Nidorino on its bare back, and jumped back into his circle, before Nidorino turned around to attack him. It attacked again, and jumped back into its circle.

"Flame Spark." Fire Fang and Spark. Spark would drive its electrical energy into its jaws, which would power up the fire move with a tinge of sparks, which, while it would hurt Nidorino additionally, would also provide a chance for paralysis, along with the potential threat of burns that come unspoken with any fire move. Electrike bit Nidorino's back again, but this time, with ever more power, and you could see sparks running across his skin, whenever Electrike would be visible enough. Ash's plan worked and Nidorino froze. He panicked; he didn't know what was wrong with him, but he couldn't move. Damian watched helplessly, as his Pokemon slowly slipped into unconsciousness, but his pride was too much, and so he didn't forfeit.

"Forfeit now, Damian." Ash was serious; he didn't want to hurt any Pokemon just because their trainer was an asshole.

"Never!" Ash sighed, and decided to end it. As much as hated to hurt the Nidorino, he couldn't lose all his money, and he would gain a Potion Carrier in the process.

"Spherical Shock. Try to hit its horn." This technique combined Electro Ball with Thunder Shock. The Thunder Shock would strengthen the electrical energy of its attacks, and the Electro Ball itself would speed up. Ash had practiced this the most with Electrike, because this attack required aim and accuracy. Right now, it would not be needed as Electrike stood in front of the frozen Nidorino, and charged an electrical ball on his tail. As the ball took shape and gained power, he let out a howl, which let loose a small charge of electricity, which moved across hid fur, and met with the ball, making it bigger, and much more powerful. That much was visible to the naked eye. Electrike jumped, and somersaulted, launching the Spherical Bolt at the poison Pokemon, which hit it on its horn. The electricity traveled through his horn, into his veins, shutting down his system.

Electricity didn't speed up the systems of Pokemon, as expected. No, that was the stuff of fairy tales. It only occurred in Electric-Typed Pokemon. On every other Pokemon, it would effectively shut them down, causing them to slip into unconsciousness.

"I win." Ash walked away from the battlefield, with Electrike following him, and Torchic on his shoulder. He walked over to the Potion Carrie and attached it to his backpack, and just walked away.

* * *

><p>As he walked along the constantly narrowing and rising path, Ash reflected upon his battle. He was lucky it was a Pokemon Damian had recently caught. If it would have been his starter, Ash would have surely lost. By the looks of it, Damian was at least a year older than him, and so his starter would be fully evolved, unless he had been not training them at all. That Nidorino was poorly trained, Damian didn't know what he was doing. Through one battle, Ash had found out a lot about Damian. He was a person who loved to catch strong Pokemon, but didn't train them, and was totally dependent on their natural strength. Ash pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind, and glanced at Electrike, who was walking in front of him, worried. The little Pokemon was not itself lately, and Ash guessed its pride had been hurt much more than he thought.<p>

Finally, he came up with something. He caught up with Electrike and scooped it up in his arms and rubbed his friend gently, ignoring the spark that raced across the skin.

"Would you like a name?" Ash's mom had told him that giving Pokemon nicknames would make them happy, and prideful. That was the reason why she nicknamed her Mr. Mime. Electrike looked at Ash, and nodded.

Over the next half an hour, Ash learned that Electrike was _very _choosy. Ash had tried many names, like Bolt or Jolt or Thunder or Lightning, but it liked none of them. Finally he said, "Flash?" Ash was fully certain that Electrike would shake his head, but his Pokemon seemed to think about it. After a while, he nodded, and jumped out of his arms. He started running around, happy and excited about his new name, making Ash sigh in relief to see his friend back to his old self. He turned his head to speak to Torchic.

"Would you like one, too?" Torchic thought about it, then shrugged. Apparently, it had enough pride without the name. Ash decided to wait before granting Torchic a nickname. He then shifted his attention to the trees around him, and listened to the voices of the many Pokemon hiding in the trees.

Eventually, Ash spotted the trees giving way to an opening. He sighed. He would finally get out this forest, and, though he didn't mind staying in the forest for a few more days, he had to restock and resupply if he wanted to continue his adventure. He also had to buy those ready-made trainer meals, as the meals his mother had made for him were about to finish. He still had quite a lot of Pokechow, enough to supply his Pokemon till he reached the city after Skycelia Town.

Ash had read in his manual that Celestial Forest led to Skycelia Town. A town where, as the name suggests, Flying-Types were prominent. Pidgey Mail was mostly used in this town, in fact, the residents of this town were the pioneers of mail being sent by flying Pokemon. It was etched into a mountain side, and that explained the elevation of the path. It was a small town, home to the first Gym of the Dreamaria Region. As Ash exited the forest, he stumbled a bit. The ground had suddenly changed from dirt and mud to a paved pathway. As he looked around, he saw the the town was modest. A few houses, here and there. In fact, it was so small that Ash could have sworn that he could see the whole town from here. He could easily spot the red building known as the Pokemon Center. He would find everything he needed there. There were rooms provided for free for travelers. Nurse Joy would take care of the Pokemon, if any, and there were Wireless Phoning Computers present through which travelers could keep in contact with anyone they wanted to. There was the PokeMart installed into it recently. So now, there was only one big building, instead of two small ones.

The Gym was the biggest and most modern building of the town. It was shaped like a feather. It was white in colour, and had blue streaks along its length, outlined by dark purple. Ash would have a great time beating this Gym. But, first things first.

* * *

><p>Ash walked into the Pokemon Center, and was met by a chilly air. It was a nice surprise for him; even though he loved the outdoors, the heat would sometimes get to him. At least, the Center was air-conditioned. He walked over to the counter, where a cheerful Norse JOy was waiting for him.<p>

"Hi ma'am, can you take care of my Pokemon?"

"Sure honey, give me their Pokeballs." He handed her the two Pokeballs. "Just two? You must be a starting trainer, right?" Ash nodded, and then made his way to the phone room. He quickly found a free phone, and dialed Professor Oak's number into it. After a few moments of ringing, the Professor picked up the phone.

"Hello, how may I he- Ash. mu boy! Its you! How are you doing? Why haven't you called? Your mother is very scared and mad! And why -"

"Professor!" Ash yelled, in attempt to get him to calm down. It worked and they both calmed down. "I was training in Celestial Forest. I just reached Skycelia Town. In fact, I just entered the Pokemon Center. Don't worry, I didn't forget."

The Professor looked impressed and said, "I told your mother that you could never be so irresponsible. I'll call her right now; she is in the ranch." He disappeared from the screen, and Ash waited. As he waited, he thought about what he would tell his mother if the truth wasn't enough. Eventually, the figure of his mother appeared and Ash smiled. Guessing from her calm face, professor Oak had told her what happened.

"Hi mom. I guess Professor Oak told you what happened?" His mother nodded, and finally let a genuine smile escape her lips.

"Yes, honey. So, how is your journey going?"

"Great! I already caught another Pokemon; an Electrike. It is actually quite rare and . . . " As Delia watched her son ramble on and on about his Pokemon, she mentally slapped herself for even thinking that Ash could be immature, and forget to call her. As much as she wanted to talk to her son, the baby Pokemon of the ranch were not going to tend to themselves.

"That's great, honey, but I have to go. I am tending to the baby Pokemon of the ranch. Apparently, trainers don't know how crucial it is to take care pf baby Pokemon themselves, because the baby Pokemon imprints on the one who tends to them. And all the baby Pokemon of the ranch have imprinted on me, and they think of me as their mother. So don't worry anymore about me being me lonely, because all the Pokemon sleep in the house, and come out to the ranch to play. So I am really happy! Bye!" She said the last part quickly and sweetly, and closed the phone call. Ash smiled at his mother''s priorities. Even though she loved him, she wouldn't let her responsibilities waver because of him. That was exactly how he wanted to be treated, and she knew it.

Ash exited the room and walked over to the counter, where Nurse Joy was waiting with his two Pokeballs. She waved at him and handed them to him.

"Thank you, Nurse Joy." Ash was very grateful, because if it wasn't for her, then his Pokemon wouldn't be in tip-top shape for battles. Nurse Joy just smiled, and waved at him as he left the Center, for the Gym.

* * *

><p>As Ash looked at the Gym from up-close, with Torchic on his shoulder, he realized why he could spot the Gym easily. It was <em>huge. <em>The feather, he could see, was actually a light, metallic silver, which looked white from afar. When he walked in, he found himself in a large room, large enough to house a battle field, literally. There was a battle field in the center of the room. The room had black and grey walls. On the battlefield, he could see two figures who were, he guessed, battling. He walked over to the small number of spectators and said,

"When can I have my Gym Battle?" He wasn't paying attention to the spectators, but when he heard a familiar voice, his eyes snapped to the source.

"Is that you, Ash?" It was Leaf. She looked at him with wide, beautiful and striking eyes. She squealed and jumped on him, giving him a tight hug. "It _is _you! How are you and why aren't you ahead of me, like everyone else?" Ash couldn't breathe, but for some reason, he just couldn't bring himself to break the hug.

"What do you mean?" Leaf broke the hug, and looked to the ground, embarrassed.

"I kind of got lost, and that is why I reached the town so late. It has been nearly three weeks."

"Oh, yeah, well, I was training in Celestial Forest, and caught another Pokemon."

"Really! Me too!" She threw out a Pokeball and it opened and revealed a flying squirrel. "Meet Emolga, my cutie!" Ash waved at the squirrel, but Emolga just yelped and hid behind Leaf. "She is a little shy. I hope she opens up to others soon." Ash nodded and looked over to the battlefield.

On one side, he saw a boy who looked a year older than him. He wore a red jacket over a red shirt, complete with red pants. His hair was wild and red in colour. Even his shoes, socks, and his watch, as well as his eyes were red.

"That is Lysandre, he is obsessed with the colour red," Leaf informed him.

On other side, he saw a beautiful girl with glistening brown hair, warm black eyes, and a fair face. She wore a simple pink skirt, which descended till her knees.

"That is the Gym Leader, Alexis." Ash shifted his attention from the trainers to the battle itself. A Houndoom, probably Lysandre's, and a Unfezant, probably Alexis's were battling. The Unfezant looked tired, and after a point-blank Flame Thrower fainted. Alexis returned her Pokemon, and so did Lysandre. She walked over to him and stuck her hand out for a handshake, but he just walked away without a word.

"Weird," Leaf commented, but Ash didn't hear her as he was already making his way over to Alexis.

"I want a Gym Battle. I am Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town." Alexis looked at him and her eyes widened at how handsome he was. After a close look at Alexis, Ash guessed that she couldn't be older than him.

"Sure. Are you a starting trainer?"

"Yes." Ash knew why she was asking about that. She had to determine which Pokemon to use against him. The Gym Pokemon were for trainers who were organized and their power was based on howm any badges the trainer had at that point. Ash would probably have no chance against the gym leader's own Pokemon. She regained her composure and walked over to her side of the battlefield. Ash took his respective place and waited for the referee to call out the rules.

"This will be a two-on-two battle between Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and Alexis Sky from Mistralton City. Only the challenger may substitute." Ash raised an eyebrow at that, he would definitely ask about that after the battle. But for now, a battle was at hand.

"Go, my beautiful Starly!" When the bird made its entrance, Ash immediately formulated a plan and spoke to Torchic. "Go buddy." Torchic had Peck perfected by now, as well as a new attack, and Ash had made a new technique with Peck, and couldn't wait to test it out.

Torchic jumped on the battle field and got ready.

"Begin!"

"Peck!" Starly dived down at Torchic, its beak glowing. Ash sighed. A head-on attack was the most basic way to start the battle. He would have to use the new attack sooner than expected.

"Dodge with Quick Attack!" As suspected, the chicken started running around in a frenzy, confusing Starly. Ash wanted to end this as soon as possible, as he didn't want to ruin his chances by building up to the final move, only to have Torchic run out of steam. Also, he had wanteed to test out Electrike's way of attacking on Torchic.

"Dusk Scratch, and then Quick Attack again." Torchic jumped out of his circle and scratched Starly with a dark claw, and then got back to running. It attacked again, but this time Alexis was ready.

"Double Team." Starly readied itself and quickly made copies of itself, and, unfortunately for Ash, Torchic ended up attacking the wrong one, and went straight through it. It landed, and looked around, startled.

"Quick Attack!" Torchic couldn't look for long, as the real bird tackled him with power, sending him flying.

"Its time!" Ash called out, and Torchic got back on its feet, with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes.

"Vulture's Peck!" Vulture's Peck was a combination of Quick Attack, Peck and Night Slash. Torchic would direct all the dark energy of Night Slash into its beak, and peck the opponent. Quick Attack would help to cover long distances, if required, which it was now. As Torchic obliterated all the copies until the real one was left, Ash couldn't help but smirk when he looked at the horrified look on Alexis's face. Vulture's Peck was a dark name, but it was a dark name for a dark move. If Torchic could grin, it would have at the moment when it rammed into Starly and started pecking with all its might. Ash grimaced at the sight of the dark energy being transferred to Starly's nerves, fainting it.

"Starly is unable to battle! Gym Leader, send out your next Pokemon!" Alexis returned Starly, the horrified expression never leaving her face, and this time wordlessly released a Tailow. Ash returned Torchic to its Pokeball; his friend deserved a break to regain his stamina, and released Flash. As soon as he was released, he stood by Ash's legs for protection. Ash knelt down to it and spoke, "We are in a battle, buddy." Electrike looked at the battlefield, and jumped on his side of the battlefield, awaiting orders.

"Electrike vs. Tailow! Begin!"

"Quick Attack!" Both Pokemon launched at each other. Apparently, Alexis had broken out of her stupor, because she had ordered Tailow to attack at the same time as Ash. Both Pokemon rammed at each other, but Tailow noticeably took more damage. Alexis was confused, but then she sighted the sparks coming off Flask's body, and realized.

"Tailow, its fur gives off electricity, so stay away and use Gust!" Ash cursed silently, his main element of surprise had been discovered, but Ash knew what to do. As Tailow blew strong winds along the battlefield, Ash smirked. This was going to be easy.

"Spherical Shock!" Flash wasted no time in charging a ball of charged electricity and jumping in the air. But, due to its light weight, it was carried along with the winds. That was exactly what Ash wanted. The wind was following a course, which would ultimately lead to Tailow's back. And that is exactly what happened. In a matter of seconds, Flash was hovering near Tailow, and it launched the Thunder Shock-powered Electro Ball at it. It made contact, and Tailow screamed. Its fur was singed and the electricity entered its nervous system in seconds, shutting it down. As the Tailow fell to the ground, Ash smiled, and pick up Flash. He was used to the tinge of shock that would flow across his skin as he did so.

"That was great, buddy." Flash licked his cheek, before Ash recalled it. Ash walked over to the badge holder, a boy in the background, and took out one of the feather-shaped badges from the case. As Ash polished it lightly, he smiled in realization.

This was just the beginning.

* * *

><p><strong>SO, HOW WAS THAT? PLEASE REVIEW OR PM TELLING ME HOW IT WAS AND WHAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN IN THIS STORY. ASK QUESTIONS, IF YOU WANT.<strong>

**CHAPTER 2 WILL CONTINUE FROM THIS EXACT MOMENT. IT TOOK A LONG TIME PREPARING AND WRITING THIS, SO PLEASE BE GENTLE WITH YOUR REVIEWS. ANY FLAMERS CAN GO TO HELL, BUT CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISM IS ALWAYS APPRECIATED. I PLAN TO INTRODUCE MAY AND MAX IN THE NEXT YOU LIKE THAT?**

**ALSO, IF ANY OF YOU THINK THAT ASH IS OVERPOWERED, THEN DON'T WORRY. HE WILL LOSE BATTLES, AND THAT WILL HELP IN HIS MATURITY.**

**NOTE: THERE WILL BE NO CONTEST, CHESS OR OLDRIVAL SHIPPING IN MY STORY. I HAVE OCS FOR EVERYONE.**

**THERE IS A POLL ON MY PROFILE FOR THE FINAL PAIRING OF THIS STORY.**

**FOR GUESTS, THE CHOICES ARE**

**ASHXOC**

**ASHXMAY**

**ASHXHILDA **

**ASHXLEAF**

**ANY OTHER SHIPPING WITH ASH**

**ONLY GUEST VOTES ARE ACCEPTED THROUGH REVIEWS!**


	2. First Encounter

**A/N**

**First of all, I am sorry for the late update. I was essentially going for one week, but my hectic schedule didn't allow it. So, here we are. **

** I understand that there has been some problem in remembering the various techniques of Ash's pokemon, so I have decided to write down all the techniques of Ash's pokemon on my profile. **

**But, first read this chapter as there are a few more techniques and my profile is a major spoiler for anyone who hasn't read chapter two, or one, for that matter.**

**One more thing, although Dreamaria has ten gyms, only eight are required for qualifying for the Pokemon League. In turn, only five ribbons are required to enter the Grand Festival. There are extra gyms and contests to make the region more accessible for trainers and coordinators and it makes it easier to qualify.**

* * *

><p>Ash stopped admiring his feather-like badge and walked over to Alexis, who seemed to be frozen. She was still trying to figure out how she had lost. However, Ash didn't know that, and was concerned.<p>

"Are you okay?"

That broke her from her stupor, and she shook her head. She looked at him with stars in her eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. But how were your Pokemon so strong? They beat the Gym's Pokemon easily. None of the challengers - except that Lysandre fellow and some boy with spiky brown hair- were able to defeat my tailow. How did you do that?" Ash smiled confidently at that; he loved to give anyone tips about training Pokemon.

"It was simple and good old training in the Celestial Forest. In fact, its been three weeks of training. I guess that's why Leaf said that everyone was ahead of us. Speaking of Leaf . . ." He looked over to the frozen brunette, much like Alexis. It appears his battling had had a freezing effect on everyone, because every spectator present was either wide-eyed or their mouth was hanging open.

"Oh, okay." It appeared that the Gym Leader was satisfied with that answer, and she knew who Leaf was. But something from her earlier dialogue caught Ash s attention.

"Hey, you said a boy with spiky brown hair beat you. Is that right?"

"Yeah. There was some boy who had a squirtle. He was a starting trainer, like you actually. But his Pokemon lacked technique and finesse, and relied on brute force. Your Pokemon, however, battled like they had been battling all their lives."

"Thanks," Ash said nonchalantly. His thoughts were on Gary, who was supposedly ahead of him. So it was like Ash suspected: Gary didn't take the time to train Squirtle enough. That little turtle had the potential to become a strong blastoise one day, if he got the right training. He had other thoughts, though, and he looked at Alexis for answers.

"Do you mind telling me how you came to be a Gym Leader? You appear to be no younger than me, so you should be a starting trainer. So how do you already have an unfezant?"

She played with a lock of her hair, and looked to the ground. "You see, the older Gym Leader retired suddenly, and they urgently needed someone to fill in, and I was chosen. That unfezant was my sister's." Ash understood and nodded, but then another few questions came to mind.

"Why were you chosen, and who is your sister?" She made eye contact with him, with determination behind those eyes.

"The answer to those questions is same: my surrogate sister is Skyla Wind." Ash's eyes widened and he looked at Alexis with new found admiration and respect.

Skyla was one of the Unovian Gym Leaders, and had recently become famous because of her being partnered with Elesa Shock, who was another one of the Unovian Gym Leaders. You see, Elesa's career in modeling had come to a standstill. She was still the face of fashion, but it was revealed that people were becoming bored of only one face wearing different clothes. They had become too used to it, it seemed, and needed a change. Elesa was scared that her career might end, so she asked Skyla to partner up with her. It took some convincing, but eventually Skyla agreed and her workload increased that much; she was a Model and a Gym Leader.

Alexis didn't like the attention that Ash was giving her.

"Can you stop looking at me like that?" Ash shook his head to rid himself of these thoughts, and nodded.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Its not everyday you meet Skyla's sister and beat her in battle."

"Surrogate sister," she corrected him.

"Okay, okay. So I guess that unfezant was Skyla's?" She stared at him like he was an idiot.

"Of course, it was. As you said, I am just a starting trainer. That starly and tailow were my Pokemon, not the Gym's. I thought, that through the Gym, I would be able to train my Pokemon. So far, its going alright." Ash understood completely and then remembered about Leaf.

"My friend over there, Leaf, would like to battle you for the badge if she hasn't already. Has she?"

"No, she hasn't. If you want to battle, then come tomorrow. I need to heal my Pokemon at the Pokemon Center." Ash nodded and walked over to Leaf. She was still frozen. Ash waved a hand in front of her face, and she jumped on him, giving him a hug."

"That was so cool! Your Pokemon were so strong! I mean, I expected them to be, but you completely destroyed her Pokemon!" Ash somehow managed to hug her back softly. What he didn't know was as soon as his arms wrapped around Leaf the brunette blushed a deep red, and he was doing the same.

"Thanks but we should get going. Lets rest in the Pokemon Center." She nodded and broke the hug, before dragging him out of the Gym to the Pokemon Center."

* * *

><p>Over the next few hours, Ash found out that Leaf actually got lost trying to catch her emolga. She had spotted it, and ran after it without thinking practically. Ever since she first saw it, she was convinced that it would be hers. The little squirrel was hard to find; everything she would come near it, it would fly away. She finally cornered it in a tree in the center of a clearing. It was a hard battle for both sides, what with Emolga's type advantage <em>and <em>disadvantage, but she finally caught it, after hitting it with a Razor Leaf. She had named it Cutie; she wasn't just calling it that out of admiration.

Leaf had hogged him with questions about his experiences about his three weeks in the Celestial Forest. Apparently, for her, it was very difficult. Ash had told her that it was easy and fun for him and he would be looking forward to his next days in the Dreamaria Region.

Right now, Ash was resting in bed. The sun had went down, and Ash had to rest up if he wanted to watch Leaf's battle tomorrow. If he woke up early, he would get an early training session in and so he would warm up. Those thoughts were clouding his mind, until sleep overwhelmed him.

* * *

><p>Ash's eyes opened. He checked the clock: 7 o'clock. Leaf said she would battle at 10, so he had a lot of time to train. He walked out of his room, and descended the stairs with a skip in his stepping. Yesterday's victory had left him filled with excitement, but Alexis and Leaf didn't let him act out his excitement. He would make sure that he finally worked out his excitement today. And he would do that by training.<p>

He made his way to the counter, where an energetic Nurse Joy was waiting.

"Hi ma'am, can you give me two Pokeballs registered under the name of 'Ash Ketchum'?"

"Sure honey, wait a second." She walked to the Pokeball cabinet and opened it. After a few seconds, she retreated from the cabinet and walked over to Ash and handed him two Pokeballs. "Here you go, a torchic and an electrike." Ash gratefully took the Pokeballs from her hand and exited through the back door. He ended up in the training field that accompanied the back of every Pokemon Center. He released his friends, who took their positions on his shoulder and by his legs.

"Hey, guys. Its time for training." The Pokemon understood and started running laps around the field. "Wait up for me!" Ash laughed at his friends' enthusiasm and ran after them. After a number of laps, Ash got to his push-ups while the two Pokemon watched, warming up in their own ways for the _real _training.

Ash had finally decided to teach his Pokemon new moves. He believed that since Torchic had perfected Peck, Quick Attack and Focus Energy, it needed new attacks. So far, Ash had only come across one move which would be useful and suitable for Torchic: Sand Attack. It was the only remaining attack which could be contained by Torchic's power. Attacks like Flame Thrower and Fire Spin would come in time. For those kind of attacks, there was a lot of training and growing left for his friend. Sand Attack would actually be very helpful. It required blowing concentrated air which would shift the movement of air and dust particles in the air, creating a very minor sandstorm. Through constantly blowing air, Torchic's beak would grow stronger and harden. While that was present, blinding an enemy can be very useful at times. Attacks that take time to build up enough energy, such as Solar Beam, as well as attacks that the Pokemon requires time to recover from, such as Hyper Beam, can leave a Pokemon wide open and vulnerable. A minor sandstorm or even sand in your opponent's eyes can be the difference between a win and a loss. The sole reason for attacks like Sand Attack being undermined was that trainers did not know how to utilize them. But Ash was not the ordinary trainer and was already forming possibilities with Sand Attack. And so, Ash told Torchic to get working on the first step: breathing in and out. That would allow Torchic to get the gist of it. Also, Ash would finally be able to practice Flame Burst; it would have to be powered down, of course.

Flash had Volt Switch down. Ash had decided to work on Electric Terrain with him, as well as Bite and Thunder Fang. Using the battle field against your enemy was the biggest advantage one could have. But to do that, one had to know how to shift the environmental conditions of the area with the appropriate moves. Electric Terrain would prove to be a move which would be able to change the flow of the battle easily. Flash would not be able to take most people head-on, so Electric Terrain would strip other Pokemon of this luxury as well. If Ash was lucky, it would cause paralysis. Ranged attacks would not require perfect accuracy anymore, as the Pokemon would be stuck, paralysis or not. If the field was half water, then Ash would be _really _lucky. The water would conduct the electricity transporting it all across the field, turning this move into an attacking one, and would surge electricity through any Water Pokemon swimming in the water. Oh yes, Ash couldn't wait to face a gyarados with Flash, once it evolved into a manectric. Furthermore, this move would increase Flash's agility.. The electricity across the field would speed up its system and would heighten its reflexes, speeding up its reactions. A manectric or an electrike that was faster than its already Arceus-like speed was not only impossible, it was ridiculous. Ash was sure he would get laughed at if he told anyone except Professor Oak his strategy, but he didn't let that bother him. Thunder Fang and Bite were needed to toughen up his friend. Through using Fire Fang, its jaws and teeth had already been honed, but Thunder Fang and Bite would be able to help in its growth, which was needed in order to evolve for any Pokemon.

Once Flash had started to gather his electrical energy into his feet - the first step for Electrical Terrain - Ash walked away to let his Pokemon do their work and got to his own exercises.

* * *

><p>The sweat dripped from his head like water from a waterfall. He checked his watch; 9:30. He still had plenty of time to reach Leaf's battle. He walked in and headed to his room after giving Flash and Torchic's Pokeballs to Nurse Joy. He smelled his armpits, and immediately regretted it. He made his way into the bathroom.<p>

Ash thought about his friends. It appeared Torchic could use Flame Burst perfectly and had the ability to control it well. Flash was making good progress with Electric Terrain, and could use it for a short time. Thunder Fang and Bite seemed to come to it naturally, and it had those moves down in an hour, at most.

A quick shower later, Ash picked up his Pokemon from his counter and headed towards the Gym. As he walked on the streets, he still had fifteen minutes left to kill, so he wandered a bit. He wanted to find a way down the gentle slope of the mountain, and soon found a path into the forest, that seemed to have a main path towards the end. Making a mental note of this location, Ash finally headed towards his first destination: the Gym.

He walked in the huge building, and found out that the battle had started before Leaf had told him. Apparently, she had defeated the starly, because her Cutie was battling against Tailow. Ash heard Leaf yell.

"Electro Ball!" Cutie brought her hands together and created an electric ball and threw it at Tailow. The bird couldn't dodge and was hit dead-on by the ball. The electricity surged through it, and fainted it. Alexis returned it before it could injure itself even more by falling. Leaf jumped and hugged Cutie tightly. Ash expected Cutie to lightly shock Leaf, but it seemed to be hugging back just as tightly. In fact, on closer look, Ash could see that it was crying.

Leaf broke the hug, and sat Cutie on her shoulder. She got her badge and spotted Ash. She came over to him and after Ash congratulated her and asked about Cutie crying, explained.

"She is very young. In fact, she couldn't be more than a few months old. She had a hard past, I believe." Ash looked over to Cutie, who was hugging Leaf's head, scared of Ash. Ash brought a hand close to her, and she started trembling. Immediately Leaf picked her up and cradled her in her arms, relaxing it.

"Its okay, Cutie. He won't hurt you." Ash rubbed Cutie's head and the little squirrel closed her eyes and purred in pleasure. The squirrel opened its eyes and was surprised to see Ash, but she closed them again and enjoyed the feeling. Ash smiled and looked at Leaf.

"You know, I think she sees you as her mother." Leaf's eyes widened and stared at Cutie, who was trying to snuggle closer in her embrace. Leaf seemed to be thinking about it, but, after a while, she smiled and hugged Cutie tighter.

"I hadn't thought about it like that, but I like it. I think I always saw her as a mother sees her daughter." Ash smiled at the interaction between the make-shift mother and daughter, and he let them have a private moment, as he walked over to Alexis.

"Tough break." She looked at him and smiled.

"Yeah, I know. But that's fine. I can tell that Starly and Tailow are getting stronger by the day." Ash was happy and relieved to see that the young Gym Leader didn't let the pressure of her losses get to her, and took experience from her battles.

"Well, I guess this is goodbye, and d

on't forget to come back for a rematch." she briefly hugged him and Ash exited the Gym with Leaf in tow. He hoped he would see her again, and when he did, he would be much stronger.

* * *

><p>Ash was sitting in the cafeteria of the Pokemon Center with Leaf, conversing with her.<p>

"Well, we should move on with our own ways from here. I guess it is goodbye." Leaf swallowed her noodles before answering.

"Why not travel together?" When she saw Ash not really convinced, Leaf explained. "It will be more practical. We are heading towards the same destination, and this way we will be able to help each other out." As thought about it, and decided that strength was in numbers, after all. He nodded.

"Sure, it does seem more practical. I found a path into the forest, which seemed to go all the way, but you never know." Leaf agreed with him, since she hadn't found an easy way or path to enter the forest.

A few minutes later, Leaf stood beside Ash with Cutie in her arms, while Torchic was on Ash's shoulder and Flash and Leaf's bulbasaur, Flower, were keeping guard. They were looking at the path that Ash had found with curiosity.

They looked at each other, nodded, and took their first steps in the Descending Forest.

* * *

><p>The Descending Forest was altered by Pokemon League workers in order to provide areas of resting. These areas were called terraces. They were etched into the mountain-side and the rugged terrain was dug into in order to create barren and flat lands. In this way, clearings were provided for trainers to rest in, and it was in one of these clearings where Leaf was resting; it was night.<p>

As she sat on the smooth land of the terrace, Leaf reflected on the events of the day.

Cutie had grown close to Ash, and was very playful. She would fly around, squealing and cooing every time she discovered a flower, and would change positions between Ash's and Leaf's shoulder. Torchic had gotten fed up with her, and was resting in his Pokeball, while Flash and Flower were looking after her like her siblings, helping in the young Pokemon's growth.

It took a while, but Leaf finally set up the tents. She had had enough problems with her own, but with Ash out to find water and wood, she had to set up his tent as well. Ash was already very tired from his training session with Flash and Torchic. He had done light exercises, but the stress of the day was enough to exhaust him; they constantly had to check their stepping and balance themselves due to steep slope of the forest. But still he opted to get and do the hard work. Leaf had opted to train her Pokemon in a much gentler way. As of now, only Flower trained. Cutie seemed more interested in cuddling against Ash and Leaf.

Leaf finally sighed and sat down on the ground, waiting for Ash. He finally stumbled into the clearing and dropped the huge pile of wood into the center of the clearing. While Leaf was trying to figure out how he had carried such a large amount of wood, Ash walked into his tent and laid down. Torchic took his place on his chest, while Flash laid down by his feet, protectively. It wasn't long before he heard the crackle of flames and the tent heat up. Leaf had lighted the wood, he thought. He slowly drifted into sleep and the comfortable warmth accompanied him.

* * *

><p>They were lost after a week.<p>

Ash and Leaf had woken up early, in order to make good progress. They had gotten on the main path easily, but this path wasn't the main path, after all. They had feared this; the path was going on, until it seemed to vanish. The path was so old that it had faded. This showed that this was one of the old and natural paths of the Dreamaria Region. Ash had been hoping that he had found a man-made path, but that wasn't so. So, the duo was blindly trying to find their way and marking trees with a cross wherever they went.

Most people thought getting through the Descending Forest was easy; all you had to do was descend, right? Wrong. Apart from going down the slope, trainers and coordinators had to find the right path; this forest led to many areas. The area where trainers were headed to was called Damp Depression.

Damp Depression was a town set up by nomadic tribes. It was used as a resting place for travelers back when the Dreamaria Region hadn't been developed. It was a medical town, complete with small clinics and taverns, where travelers would drink themselves to sleep. It was small, surrounded by swampy marshes. The town itself was pressed into the ground, which gave it a look which could be taken as the opposite of a plateau. Now that the region had been developed, Damp Depression had become a resting place for travelers. There was no Gym present, but the new Pokemon Center was present and working with a proper staff. It was only a glimpse of civilization in an otherwise rural area.

So far, the soil hadn't become dense and wet, which would have been a clue to the position of Damp Depression. It appeared that even though the duo was constantly walking downwards, they didn't seem to be getting any closer to the foot of the mountain. Maybe, it was because of their slow speed, but Ash had gotten fed up of this and sighed.

"Sorry about the path, Leaf. Its my fault we're lost and in this mess." Leaf shook her head and answered while watching Cutie hug the death out of a caterpie.

"Its okay. Besides, now we can spend more time together." Ash wasn't fully convinced by that.

"Yeah, there is that. But still spending time won't matter if it will never end." What Ash didn't know was that Leaf was secretly wishing that this time spent between her and Ash would be infinite. She still had to agree with him, lest he found out about her secret.

"Come on, cheer up. Okay, how about this? When we reach the foot of this mountain, why don't we circle it? That way, we will have to end up at Damp Depression." Ash smiled at Leaf's never-depressed attitude and his mood was lifted.

"All right, lets go!" His enthusiasm was renewed and he started walking at a faster pace, causing Leaf to jog to catch up with him.

"Wait for me!" She laughed.

* * *

><p>Any hopes of reaching Damp Depression by nightfall were extinguished as Ash and Leaf laid down by the fire. Other than the terraces, there was no sign of the slope straightening, which caused the pair to think that maybe the mountain was taller than they thought. They had decided that coming up the mountain to reach Skycelia Town had seemed easier as it was one of their first days going out on their own, and they had adrenaline pumping through each and every vessel in their body. But now they were well into the second month of their journey, and reality had started to kick in: going on a journey was not as easy as they had thought.<p>

Ash was bored and decided that there was only one thing that would help him sleep.

"Hey, Leaf, you wanna battle?" Leaf looked at him, worried.

"Aren't you and your Pokemon tired from all that training?" Ash shook his head.

"Nah, we will be fine. Besides, we both could use the practice, considering we haven't battled a trainer in four weeks." Leaf nodded and stood up, gesturing for Ash to do the same. He took his place and called for Flash, who had finally perfected Electric Terrain. Ash would have to wait before using that move, as there was nothing to contain it with. Proper battlefields had psychic barriers surrounding them, which were strong enough to contain even the strongest attacks, like Self Destruct or Explosion. Here in the wilderness they would have to work with the lack of barriers with moves that only attack one Pokemon at a time, instead of moves like Rock Slide and Flame Burst.

Cutie sat on Ash's shoulder, eager to watch her mom and friend's battle. Leaf called for Flower, and an instant later Flower appeared on the battlefield. An intense staring match started between Flash and Flower began, until Ash decided to call out the first move.

"Flame Spark II." This was an intensified version of Flame Spark. It combined Fire Fang and Thunder Fang, replacing Spark. The effects were the same, though; only the damage taken by the opponent was more. Flash launched towards Flower, its jaws crackling with heated electricity.

"Dodge!" Leaf was desperate. Flower was not one of the fastest Pokemon, and it certainly was slower than Flash. Also, even if Flower dodged Flash's agile and light body would allow it to easily change directions and attack it. Flower tried to jump, but Flash caught her and bit her, sending flames and electricity through her body. When Flash retreated, Flower looked much more tired than it was at the start of the battle. The electricity from Thunder Fang wasn't enough to shut her down, but it certainly entered her nerves.

All of a sudden, Flower started twitching and collapsed. It hadn't fainted yet, but that was enough to make Leaf cry in worry. She ran towards Flower and scooped it up in her arms. She started spraying a potion and a paralyze heal on it. Cutie was trying to make sure her sister was alright and flew to it, hugging it. Ash and Flash felt guilty, but after Leaf had tended to Flower, she came to them and gave them both a light hug.

"Sorry about that. Its not your fault. I just get worried sometimes." Ash felt like a great weight had just been lifted off his shoulders. He nodded to Leaf, and went inside his tent. He laid down with Flash on his chest; Torchic had already fallen asleep in a corner of the tent. Ash wrapped an arm around it, and moved it away from the tent. He may burn it down with his heavy and hot breathing.

Little did they know, a small pink Pokemon had watched their battle from a distance, and had decided that they were the ones; especially the boy with the black hair.

* * *

><p>They were walking leisurely when Leaf squealed.<p>

"Look, tracks! We are in the right direction!" She ran forward and knelt down by some tire tracks. Ash followed suit, and immediately his mind started assessing the situation. He picked up the dirt from the tracks with his index and middle finger, and brought it close to his nose. He sniffed it, and it was what he feared. He dropped the dirt and explained to Leaf with a grave expression.

"These tracks weren't made from ordinary tires, which are used for off-road vehicles. They are much narrower, and forbidden around these areas. I read that in the manual. Also, these were made recently. You can feel that they are still warm and reek of petrol. If I had to guess, these couldn't be more than a few hours old. These are not tourists; no tourists get up this early. Its only six in the morning. Its dangerous. Return her." He returned his friends and gestured to Cutie, who had gathered a pile of beautiful flowers in her arms, and was sitting on Leaf's shoulder. Before she could do what Ash said, they heard the rumbling of an engine.

"Hide!" Ash and Leaf jumped in some bushes, just before a jeep whizzed past them. Cutie tightened her grip on her flowers, but the speed of the air shifted by the car was enough to carry away one of her flowers. Cutie would have let it go, but it was her favourite. She yelled, worried and flew away in pursuit of the flower.

"Cutie, wait! Don't go! Its dangerous!" Cutie paid no heed to her mother's warnings and continued. Leaf ran after her in worry; she really loved Cutie. Ash silently cursed, frustrated, and ran after them.

He crossed the path, and spotted brown hair. He ran after it, dodging trees and low hanging branches he went. As he ran, he heard screaming and crying. The twigs dug deep into his sneakers, and into his feet, drawing blood. Ash ignored the stinging pain and kept running. Finally, he spotted Leaf hiding behind a branch. He was confused, but then saw it. Beyond the trees was a huge terrace. What was astonishing was that it was piled with cages. He understood: the crying and screaming wasn't Leaf's; it was produced by the numerous Pokemon that were kept prisoners in those cages. There were a few cranes being used to pile up the cages neatly one on top of the other, as well as to destroy any trees in their way with the wrecking ball.

He gently walked towards Leaf, who was constantly calling him towards her. He noticed her eyes were watery and it hit him.

Cutie was missing.

"Where is she?" He whispered, fearful of what was to come. She pointed at the clearing without looking and Ash saw something even more horrifying when he spotted _them._

There were men who had red hair in grey and black suits with red P's going across their shirts, as well as men with normal hair in black suits with blue G's going across them. If Ash wasn't worried about giving away their position, he would have gasped.

_Team Shift. _

Team Shift was a known organization across the regions. It was an evil organization who only did major jobs, such as stealing jewels from the biggest people in the political network. It was the combination of Team Galactic and Team Plasma. These two teams were failures as individuals. They would always get caught in the middle of their operations. Now, they had one leader who had taught them the ways of real warfare. They were organized and had got many jobs done around the regions. They would only do jobs when they were hired. There were not many people who wanted anything to do with them, so when someone did contact them, they would charge them highly for whatever they wanted done. In fact, the money the got was enough to keep them quite for a few months. Through this, they would avoid the police.

"Call Officer Jenny and tell them that Team Shift is hiding in Descending Forest." He knew Leaf kept a cell phone, but he himself didn't. Leaf nodded and got to it, while Ash investigated.

There was a commotion among two of the men. Ash crawled towards them, hidden by the bushes. When he saw the reason for the commotion, he clenched his fists. One of the men was holding a cage, while the other tried to shove a Pokemon inside it.

It was Cutie.

She bit the grunt's hand, but the grunt finally shoved her in. Both yelled in triumph and the cage fell to the ground, locked. Ash saw that Cutie had a number of bruises on her, and was crying, which made him want to hurt them even more. He remembered that unfortunate day five years ago.

* * *

><p><em>Eight-years old Ash playfully walked in his garden, chasing butterflies. He ran around. Not a care in the world. He spotted a caterpie and knelt beside it.<em>

_"Hello friend," Ash called out in a polite and cute voice. The caterpie slithered along his arm and nuzzled his cheek. Ash giggled. It was the same with every Pokemon in his garden. Over the years, Ash had made friends with all the Pokemon which lived in his garden. All had come to know him, and loved him, while he loved them. Ash petted the caterpie and laid it down on the garden._

_"Where is Pidgey, Caterpie?" Just then a bird landed on his shoulder and nipped his ear in affection, causing Ash to pet it and laugh._

_"Stop it, Pidgey." The bird stopped nipping, only to nuzzle his cheek. Ash hugged both the Pokemon in happiness and got an idea._

_"Do you guys want to play?" The Pokemon nodded. "All right, go hide. I'll seek." He closed his eyes and started counting to ten, while the two Pokemon slithered and flew away to hide._

_"Nine, ten! Ready or not, here I come!" He opened his eyes and sighed. He could easily spot the worm's tail. He went over to it, and poked it, causing the worm to yelp and poke its head out. Its head sunk when it realized it had been caught. Ash just picked it up and placed him on his shoulder. He then gazed at a low and small tree, and he could see a brown and white feather which had flown out of a nest. Ash smirked and sighed._

_"This is too easy." He started climbing the tree while Caterpie hid inside his shirt, afraid of heights. Ash reached the nest, and pulled out Pidgey. The bird shrieked and that caused Ash to lose his balance from the shock. He fell, but the low height of the tree meant that he wasn't hurt that much. Pidgey descended and shrieked an apology to Ash, but he just petted it. He pulled out Caterpie from his shirt, who started panicking when he spotted a bruise on Ash's arms. Ash assured it that he would be fine, and the day continued in careless curiosity._

_Ash played. That was the only thing in his mind the rest of the day. So far, Spearow and Pidove had joined the group. He played hide and seek again, and sighed when he found his friends in the same positions._

_"You guys really need to find new places to hide." His friends just sighed. He kept playing and laughing, until his mother exited the house with wide eyes, and a tear running down her cheek. Ash was about to wave at her, but then he spotted her tear and ran to her. He hugged her legs; it hurt him to see his mother with even a frown on her face._

_"Is dad going to be late again?" His father had gone on a business trip. Every time he went away, his mother would drown herself in worry, especially when his flight would be late. His flight was late every time._

_"What?" It appeared his mother wasn't in the right mindset to answer Ash's question at the time. But he didn't know that._

_"Is dad's flight going to be late again?" His mother blinked and burst out, crying. She knelt down and hugged him tightly. She cried on his shoulders, her tears wetting his shirt. Ash hugged her back just as tightly and rubbed her back in attempt to calm her down, ignoring the discomfort from the wetness of his shirt. His mother got her tears under control and sniffed._

_"Your dad is gone, honey." Though Ash didn't completely understand the concept of death, the way his mother said that sentence made him tear up. He started crying and tried to find comfort in his mother's arms. It was amazing how just one sentence could have an effect like that. Ash wanted to know what his mother fully meant by what she said._

_"What do you mean, mom? Is he gone on another business trip?" His mother rubbed his back and answered him._

_"You don't understand, honey. He is gone forever. His plane crashed. There was a bomb on the plane, and the explosion was enough to destroy both of the engines. The crash was near the Cycling Road. Your dad's body hasn't been found yet, but there are no know survivors." Ash understood perfectly now. His dad was an obsessed maniac when it came to things like cars and planes. He had taught Ash everything about each and every type of vehicle at a young age, and was convinced that Ash would do the same to his children. Ash knew what happened when both engines of a plane failed, and he could only imagine what happened if they were destroyed. He knew about the bomb from the news. He often watched the news with his father when he would come back from his trips. He had grown very close to his father._

_"Who?" Ash wanted to know who was responsible for destroying his family, along with hundreds of others. He would swear revenge upon them._

_"It was some organization known as Shift."_

_Ash didn't say another word. He simply stared at his mother like an idiot, wishing that she would start laughing and his dad would miraculously emerge. He wished all this was a disturbing joke. That wasn't so._

_Then Ash fainted._

* * *

><p>Ash shook himself free of those thoughts. It had taken him a long time to cope with his father's death. He wasn't going to destroy the efforts of his mother and break down. No, he would try to help the police. He was sure that the police force would have sent at least twenty Officer Jennys for their help; Team Shift wasn't a team to mess with. Those twenty officers would have backup, of course.<p>

Ash decided that the only rational way to help would be to scout out the area. At least, he would find out how may grunts there were. He would do so without putting his own life was in danger, but with Team Shift, danger was a given.

It was hard at first; Ash had to crawl and crouch through each bush in order to advance and not be spotted. He also had to make sure that he was behind the bush; if he was too close, then any movement might move the bush, causing a rustling noise that would alert the guards. Ash was sure of it. He moved slowly and cautiously; freezing at every noise and every movement he spotted from the corner of his eyes. The grunts were very loud, and Ash picked up on some of things they said.

"All right, so only few of us are left. Lets make that emolga the last one we capture and move out. We'll gain a lot of money for these Pokemon, even if they are common." That made Ash's blood boil even more.. He wasn't going to let _anyone _sell Pokemon for any reason. If Officer Jenny didn't get there in time, then he would face them himself, alone, no matter how outnumbered he was. Sure, he was scared. But none of his fears mattered if the result was the safety of Pokemon. He took something useful out of that, though: there were only few of them present at the site.

As Ash circled the sight, he counted the number of soldiers. _One ... two ... three ... four ... five ... six ...! _There were only six grunts present at the sight. It appeared that the operation had been dealt with and these soldiers were only responsible for transporting the Pokemon to the base to be sold. Most of the soldiers were just laundering around, tired. He heard one say,

"Damn the heat! What was the boss thinking, leaving us here?" Ash smirked. Maybe taking them down would be easier than he thought. He returned where Leaf was hiding. As soon as he reached there, a horde of Officer Jennys jumped out and surrounded Ash.

"Halt!" Leaf jumped up and spotted Ash.

"Wait, he's my friend. He scouted the area for you." The sisters looked impressed with him and put down their guns. Upon further inspection, Ash saw that there were only ten gave Ash the go to start explaining.

"We were going along one of the old faded paths when he spotted tracks. Then a truck passed by us and we hid. Her emolga flew away and she ran after it. I followed them and we ended up here. As she said, I scouted the area for you. There are only six grunts present so taking them down and freeing the Pokemon should be easy." The leader Jenny nodded and addressed her officers.

"All right. Lets surround the area and take them down." Every Jenny released an arcanine or a growlithe and started surrounding the terrace. The leader Jenny waited with Ash and Leaf and warned them.

"Don't go anywhere. Stay here and stay safe." They did just that. When everyone was in position, Officer Jenny picked up a speaker which was secretly buried in the soil and spoke into that.

"Team Shift grunts!" The grunts turned around, confused. Some thought that they had finally received the signal to pack up, but then Officer Jenny spoke again. "This is the Dreamaria Police! Throw down your Pokeballs and raise your hands! You are surrounded! I repeat: Throw down your Pokeballs and raise your hands! You are surrounded!" The reality of the situation sunk in and each grunt growled or snarled and released his Pokemon. Ash saw that five of the grunts had a houndour and a bronzor. Only the sixth - the leader probably - had a houndoom and a bronzong. On the side of the police were four arcanine and six growlithe.

It was silent for a moment.

Then Leader Jenny started the battle.

"Alpha Formation Pyramid!" All the canines formed a triangle with the growlithe in the front and the arcanine in the back. The grunts Pokemon started charging relentlessly, while the canine Pokemon stayed calm.

"Concentrated Flame Thrower!" All the Jennys' Pokemon charged a ball of fire and launched flames at the charging Pokemon. The flames combined and one huge inferno was created. The houndour and bronzor were harmed but the houndoom and bronzong stayed unharmed. Ash knew that the advanced strategies of the police would defeat the grunts if they didn't have any backup, so he shifted his attention to the Pokemon in the cages.

He listened to the cries and pleas of help of the numerous geodude, ralts, shieldon and other pokemon. All he wanted to do was free them and help them escape. He let those thoughts cloud his mind as the battle raged. He just stared at the cages, when he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He turned around and spotted a pink hand coming out of a bush, calling him towards it.

All of his instincts told him to call out his friends and stay away but he went against them and walked towards it.

"I'll be right back." He didn't give Leaf the chance to ask why and walked through the bush and found ... nothing.

"Hello," he called. "Who are you?" He heard the rustling of leaves and turned his head up. He saw a pink bipedal Pokemon who had folded its hands and was staring at him with a critical expression, sizing him up. While it did that, Ash wondered about the Pokemon.

"I didn't read in the manual that the Descending Forest housed this kind of Pokemon. What is it doing here, anyway?" The Pokemon finally nodded and jumped on Ash's shoulder. He pointed at him and then itself and then at the caged Pokemon. Ash's eyes widened as he understood.

"You want to rescue the Pokemon? And you need my help?" The Pokemon nodded and jumped away from Ash into the tree again. It gestured for him to follow him, and Ash did just that. He climbed the tree and soon found himself on a high branch. He looked at the pokemon, who just jumped away into another tree, a higher one this time. Although unsure and hesitant, Ash jumped towards a higher branch and caught it. This process continued and Ash and the Pokemon were standing together on a branch of the highest tree around. The pokemon looked impressed with Ash; he didn't expect him to be so daring and follow him. It then got to the matter. It pointed towards one of the unmanned cranes, and then to the cages, where the Pokemon were fearfully watching the battle rage. Ash's face showed confusion but he was slowly beginning to understand as he watched the pokemon's numerous hand gestures. His eyes widened as he fitted the pieces.

"You want to man one of the cranes and use it to open the cages?" The pokemon nodded. If the situation wasn't so dire, Ash would have laughed.

"So you want to hit that pile of cages with the crane and make it collapse. But won't that hurt the Pokemon?" The pink pokemon again started to show him hand gestures, but this time Ash understood easily.

"So you are going to open the cages and then I will destroy the pile, so you can open the remaining inner cages? Sounds like a plan, but I don't know how to use a crane." The pokemon looked disappointed and just turned around. He was about to jump away, but Ash didn't let him. It hurt him to see a Pokemon sad and he wanted to free its friends. "I guess I'll find out. I only have to get to the crane, unharmed." The pokemon's hopes were renewed and the duo descended the tree, Ash considerably slower than the pokemon. The pokemon left to open the top cages, jumping from branch to branch, causing Ash to smile at its determination. Ash finally walked through the bush again and Leaf jumped on him, giving him yet another hug.

"I was so worried when you left!" She broke the hug, a tinge of pink on her cheeks, and pointed towards the battlefield. "Look! The battle is still going!" Ash saw that on the side of the police, two arcanine were left standing, as well 1 growlithe. On the side of Solar Flare, there was the houndoom and bronzong, and two houndour and 1 bronzor. Ash knew that the battle was far from over, and he had to do his part.

"Look, Leaf. I came up with a plan to help the police, but I need you to stay here." Leaf looked at him, a hint of worry in her eyes.

"What are you going to do?" Ash took her hands in his hands, causing her to blush, and spoke.

"Don't worry. Someone is helping me, and I'll be back in no time." He ran through the bushes towards one of the cranes. He rounded the terrace and ended up directly behind the crane. He hid behind the smaller-than-normal contraption and headed towards the ladder. He reached it and was just about to start climbing when he heard a voice.

"Stop! Move away from the crane!" He turned around to find a grunt with a bruised up houndour and bronzor at his side. "Don't you dare go further." Ash slowly walked away from the crane and wordlessly released Torchic and Flash. They seemed to realize it was a battle and got into positions.

"So you want to battle! All right! Flame Thrower and Gyro Ball!" Houndour charged up flames in its mouth, while the Bronzor started spinning in its place, building up energy. Ash wasn't just going to watch the battle.

"Charge your own moves. Scorching Sands and Spherical Shock." Flash started directing its electrical energy into its tail, while Torchic took a deep breath and got ready.

Scorching Sands combined Sand Attack and Ember. Torchic would start a very minor sandstorm and would use the winds created to direct the firepower of Ember towards its opponent, as well as the sand, dirt and mud risen to make the fire more dense. The sand and mud would not extinguish the fires because Torchic was constantly supplying flames, and the flames would be concentrated over a larger area. This would increase chances of actually hitting the opponent.

The houndour launched its Flame Thrower and the bronzor started spinning towards his friends. The steel pokemon entered the flames and was powered up.

"This is my own technique! Meet the power of Iron Flames!"

Ash just laughed. It appeared that this grunt was an amateur: he didn't know that although bronzor's Gyro Ball would be powered up by the flames, it would hurt it and drain its power. If the opponent didn't faint from this one attack, then bronzor would not be able to take the flames anymore, especially not in its already weak state.

"Launch them!" Torchic exhaled, and all the power stored was unleashed in a devastating blow, literally. The winds shifted, and picked up sand and mud. The air quickly became dense and the flames of Ember were carried by the winds. The flames spread over the surroundings. It was at this time that Ash was grateful for moving away from the crane. At the same time, Flash jumped up and somersaulted. He launched the powered-up ball and it struck bronzor, finally finishing it off. Flash wasn't carried away by the winds this time, because although the winds were strong, they could not match to the winds of a bird pokemon, not even with Torchic's training. The flames reached houndour and burned it. Its black skin hid the scorch marks, but Ash could see it was in deep pain and wouldn't be able to attack anymore.

"Finish it with a double Quick Attack." Both of his pokemon ran towards it, leaving behind a red and a yellow blur. They rammed it, sending it into a tree. A few seconds, it fell out, unconscious.

"Stay here and guard the ladder." Ash was serious and didn't want to waste any time. His two pokemon walked back, away from the dazed and amazed grunt. The grunt had a look of fear on his face and finally reacted. He slowly retreated.

"Get away from me!" He ran away and Ash just sighed, irritated that the grunt had only proven to be a waste of time. He started climbing the huge ladder.

When he reached the top control box, he realized his mistake: using a crane would be harder than he thought. He couldn't just figure it out. There were two levers, which he guessed acted as the steering wheel. There were a few buttons, and Ash thanked Arceus that they were labeled. He pressed the power button and the crane rumbled. It came to life and the buttons lighted up.

Ash stared at the pile of cages and saw that the pink Pokemon had opened most of the cages. Well, not opened; it punched every cage and dragged out the steel bars. In the meantime, he tried to figure out which lever to pull on. He pulled on the lever that only moved up and down. As he moved it down, the crane vibrated and moved forward and the wrecking ball sped. Ash immediately pushed the lever to its original position, but that was enough to divert everyone's attention.

The battle stopped. Pokemon and trainers alike stared at the control box, where Ash was grinning sheepishly. Everyone except Ash and the pink Pokemon was wide-eyed. Ash paid no heed to it, and pushed some buttons, as well as pulling the second lever to the right. The crane's box moved towards the right and the wrecking ball was dragged to the right, where it made contact with the top layer of the now-empty cages. The cages were completely destroyed and the scraps went flying.

The pokemon gave him a heads up and got to its cage-smashing. But Ash didn't see him. He was busy staring at his hands with wide eyes. Ash didn't know how to do that. It seemed as if his hands had moved on their own. It seemed as if there was an energy inside him that was willing him on, and helping him control the crane for the betterment of the pokemon.

What he failed to notice was the faint blue glow that emanated from his hands when he controlled the lever.

Ash shook his head rapidly and stared at the pink Pokemon in fascination. He had never seen a pokemon so determined to protect his fellow pokemon - apart from his pokemon, of course. What actually bogged his mind was that the manual of the Dreamaria region had not stated that the Descending Forest housed tyrogue. His mom had told him that everything he needed to know about the region was in there. So why hadn't it told him of tyrogue living here? This was a kind of pokemon that Ash would love to have on his team. It was strong, and had a variety of evolutions which would benefit Ash either way. He was sure that he would be able to produce some techniques for this kind of pokemon. And a fighting type was a good type to have on anyone's team.

Ash was rudely interrupted from his thoughts by a waving hand. He looked at the tyrogue and realized that he had to use the crane again. This time, he was clueless as to what to do, and he just shook his head at the pokemon. Tyrogue seemed to understand and put on a sympathetic face. Noticing its face actually made Ash wonder: Tyrogue was pretty far away, so how was it that he was able to understand every action and every emotion that the pokemon displayed. He decided that was for another day, and shifted his attention to the now-finished battle.

He watched the scene in horror and fascination. There was an arcanine left standing over a houndoom, so Ash guessed that they had won. The grass around the pokemon was charred and there were red and black flames spreading. Some of the officers were commanding some squirtle who were showering the flames with cold jets of water relentlessly. The battle had been a bloodbath, literally. The arcanine was covered in bruises and cuts, and was bleeding dark red blood. The houndoom was whimpering, begging for mercy. Every other pokemon had been returned, and houndoom soon followed suit. Arcanine howled triumphantly and then gathered the grunts who were about to run away with a single roar. The leader Jenny handcuffed them, and one of the Jennys came towards the crane and was gesturing for him to climb down. He realized that the situation was under control and descended the ladder. When he reached the ground, Torchic took his place on his shoulder, and Flash stood protectively at his heels. The Jenny placed a hand on his shoulder and he cringed: it was time for his punishment.

"That was a stupid thing you did, kid. Trying to man a crane without any past experience is one of the worst things you can do to help in a situation like this. However, whether you will be punished or awarded is not for me to decide. Talk to her." She nodded towards the leader, and Ash hesitantly walked towards her, confused: how would he be awarded for that? He reached the leader and she looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't know whether to compliment you for your bravery or slap you for your stupidity and take away your trainer license." Ash's face grew horrified at that, but the officer just laughed. "Don't worry kid. Even though, that _was _not the wisest choice, you did distract those Solar Flare grunts and help us gain the advantage. We've been trained for the worst, or in this case, weirdest situations we can ever come across in the field. And even though this wasn't what we were _exactly _prepared for, I was expecting something like this. We attacked them when they were staring at the cranee, and they didn't know what hit them." Ash breathed a sigh of relief, and received a pat on the back. "We'll take the responsibility of removing those cages and freeing those pokemon, if you don't mind. Collect your tyrogue." Ash realized her error and corrected her.

"Oh, that tyrogue isn't mine." She seemed to think and her eyes grew wide.

"Wait, is that tyrogue from around here?" Ash nodded. "I see, well you're probably wondering how a tyrogue ended up here, right?" Ash nodded again. "That tyrogue was captured by a trainer in the Johto region. You should know that the personality of a tyrogue determines what it evolves into and ,apparently, this tyrogue's personality didn't match the pokemon its trainer wanted to evolve it into. So he released it, and he happened to be in this forest when he did it. This tyrogue is mentally stronger than most pokemon because it was able to cope with its abandonment and live on its own. This pokemon has become quite famous, as trainers passing through this forest search for this tyrogue for days because of its rarity. It doesn't trust anyone, but it seemed to work with you. I wonder ... you may be the first person it trusts since its abandonment. Talk to it, and see if it wants to go with you. And after you do that, I suggest talking to your female friend over there." It was hard to process all this information at once, but Ash managed to and gave a determined nod. He walked over to Tyrogue, who was not letting anyone come close to the cages, but when Ash neared it, its expression softened and it allowed itself to be picked up and placed on Ash's shoulder.

That allowed the officers to get to their work because Ash wasn't done. He walked over to Cutie's cage, where the little pokemon had covered her face with her hands and was crying. It appeared that she was too scared to do anything and had missed his battle. As soon he reached it, Tyrogue jumped from his shoulder and punched open the cage. The noise made Cutie jump and she stared at Ash. Reality hit her when Ash picked her up and hugged her. She held onto his shirt, and cried of joy. She was so happy that she was back with her family. Ash rubbed the small Pokemon's back, making her purr in delight and content. He smiled softly and massaged her head; it was traumatic for such a young pokemon to go through so much. Ash wanted to heal the emotional damage subjected to Cutie as fast as possible. He thanked Arceus for Cutie's young age. If she would have been a bit older and had an understanding of the world, then she would have realized what would have actually happened if Ash hadn't rescued her.

Ash finally moved towards Leaf. It appeared that in the heat of things, he had forgotten about his friend. When he reached her, he was met with a hard slap. A sound of a smack was heard across the clearing and every officer stopped what she was doing to stare at the spectacle.

"Ow, what was that for?" He rubbed his cheek and stared at the infuriated Leaf. Her eyes were wide and filled with anger. She poked him in the chest harshly and started yelling.

"That was for trying to use a crane, you idiot! What were you thinking? You could have seriously gotten hurt! What is wrong with you? Did you even -" Ash stopped her by raising a hand, and gestured to Cutie who was trembling violently, and had buried her head in his shirt again.

"Wait till she's asleep. Then you can complain all you want. Right now, your daughter needs your support and love." He tried to hand Cutie to Leaf, but when she clung onto his shirt, Ash whispered soothingly.

"Its okay, Cutie. Mommy is here. She'll take care of you." Cutie retreated from his shirt, and revealed her red eyes from all the crying. Upon seeing her daughter like this, Leaf immediately scooped her up in her arms and hugged her softly.

"Everything will be alright, now, honey. Its okay. I won't let anyone take you away from me ever again. I - we will keep you safe. Don't you worry, honey." Cutie's sobs turned to sniffles and she finally smiled a genuine smile. Leaf kept her in her arms, and then hugged Ash tightly. Torchic and Tyrogue were able to jump away from his shoulders just in time, and Cutie was able to wiggle herself out of the hug, and instead chose to hug each of their heads. Ash was caught off-guard by Leaf's actions. One second she wanted to kill him, and the next she was hugging him? All this was too complicated for Ash. Leaf realized that Ash was not hugging her, and mistook it for him being angry at her.

"Don't be mad at me, Ash. I was just worried about you. You know how I can be about things. I forgot that if it wasn't for you, then I would not even have Cutie here, right now. Please forgive me, Ash. I really am sorry for slapping you." Leaf's eyes welled up with tears and she tried to blink them away. Needless to say, Ash was confused during most of her speech: if you were worried about someone, you slapped them? But when Leaf apologized, he heard the guilt in her cracked voice, and hugged her back. He heard her cry softly, so he did what he did with Cutie: he rubbed her back softly and soothingly, while whispering, "Its okay. Its not your fault." Ash had somehow found himself in a position where he was responsible for stabilizing his friend's emotions. He didn't mine, though, and he continued with rubbing her back. Leaf's hug grew tighter and Ash found himself finding it hard to breathe. He knew that telling Leaf would make her feel guilty, so he just tightened the hug from his side as well. When all efforts to calm Leaf down ended up fruitless, he did the one thing he knew Leaf loved.

He kissed her forehead.

Leaf's body shook and she froze. She couldn't believe what had happened. She looked up at Ash, and saw that his cheeks were red. Ash didn't know about his own cheeks, but he saw that Leaf's cheeks were dark red and radiated heat. Before he could ask her if she was sick, however, she buried her head in his shirt and sighed in content.

By now, every Officer Jenny was smiling at the couple of what seemed to be _very _close friends and got back to what they were doing. Ash remembered about Tyrogue and broke the hug.

"I have something important to do. You guys stay here." Leaf nodded and allowed him to walk away as she got to comforting her daughter., while Torchic and Flash looked at each other and started talking.

Ash picked up Tyrogue and placed him on his shoulder once again. He walked over to a somewhat secluded portion of the clearing, and put Tyrogue down. He stared in the confused pokemon's eyes and got to the point.

"I know about your past." A flash of hurt passed through its eyes. It wasn't much but Ash detected it. "You were abandoned in this forest. You were lonely and hurt, but you didn't let your emotions get the best of you. You lived. I know you didn't trust anybody and kept away from humans. So why did you show yourself to me?" Tyrogue looked at him with wide and emotional eyes, but it blinked its tears away. It was stronger than that; it was not going to let its past get the best of it. It then paid attention to Ash's question. Why had it chosen to trust Ash? The truth was that it didn't know itself. When it was trying to find help for the pokemon trapped in the cages, it had seen him battling his friend, it was attracted to the battle and was interested in his battling style. As it watched the battle, it realized that Ash was an excellent battler and only he could help free the trapped pokemon. So, it had followed them in the morning. It had planned to direct the duo towards the cages without revealing itself. Apparently, it didn't need to as the duo were already on the way to the huge terrace. It followed them all the way, and didn't expect Ash to do anything. So, naturally, when Ash started scouting the area, it was surprised. As it saw the care Ash had for each and every pokemon, it realized why it had chosen to trust Ash.

It placed a hand on Ash's chest, making him realize the reason.

"My heart? You trust me because of my heart?" Tyrogue nodded and retreated his hand.

"So you say I have a good heart. I guess I understand. Alright, now I want to ask you something very important." Tyrogue paid full attention to Ash's next words.

"Will you come with me as my pokemon?" Tyrogue was surprised by Ash's question, but it considered it. It already trusted Ash fully, so maybe going with him wouldn't be bad after all. But then there was the real question: would Ash be able to make it stronger? Somehow, Ash knew that.

"If you're worried about becoming stronger, don't be. The way I train my pokemon is _very _hard. If you don't believe me, then lets battle. Though, I don't think that is the case." Even though it trusted Ash, Tyrogue required some kind of proof and so it decided to battle. It showed Ash this by taking a battle stance, making him sigh.

"Alright, lets go. Torchic, come here, buddy! Its a battle!" His first pokemon came to his side attentively and got ready.

"Lets start. Focus Dusk Scratch!" Torchic froze and closed his eyes. A faint red glow enveloped his body and he opened his eyes. He ran at Tyrogue with his claws glowing eerily. The tyrogue wasn't just going to stand around so he breathed in and got ready. His gland glowed a metallic silver and he disappeared. He appeared right in front of Torchic and punched. If Torchic hadn't been training on its reflexes, it wouldn't have been able to retaliate against the Bullet Punch with its Dusk Scratch right at the last moment. As the two pokemon clashed, they grew weaker and tired as neither had faced such a strong opponent before. That made Ash grin, having tyrogue as a teammate would be very useful for him.

Tyrogue jumped away from Torchic and meditated. He closed his eyes and waited for Torchic to come near him. Ash knew what was going on, so he decided to take a ranged assault.

"Scorching Sands." Torchic exhaled and immediately the pattern of the winds changed and a small sandstorm was created. It then launched small flames which spread over a small area. Tyrogue wasn't an exception, and was burned by the flames. It jumped away and growled, irritated. It's hand glowed and it disappeared. It appeared in front of Torchic and punched again. Torchic was hit this time, and Ash had had enough.

"Lets finish it Focus Peck." Torchic got itself together and it countered the Mach Punch with its glowing beak. The pokemon clashed again, and Torchic found an opening: the tyrogue slipped just a little, and its hand stopped glowing. Torchic immediately struck with the powered up Peck and hit its weak spot. The tyrogue collapsed and Ash took his chance. He threw a pokeball and the pokeball sucked the pokemon inside after hitting it. The pokeball moved and rolled down as Ash waited with bated breath. It kept moving for a few more seconds, before it dinged and Tyrogue was caught.

Ash's grin was maniacal as he released his new pokemon from his pokeball. His pokemon looked at him, and both smiled, an unspoken agreement in their eyes. Ash remembered about giving his pokemon a name, and asked it. It seemed to like the idea, and Ash got to thinking. Tyrogue was nowhere near as choosy as Flash and had decided on the second name that came to Ash: Beat.

The newly named Beat jumped on Ash's shoulder, adjacent to Torchic, and made himself comfortable. Ash whistled and Flash jumped to his side.

"Guys, this is our new friend, Beat."

While everyone got acquainted, Ash decided to scan Tyrogue and pulled out his Pokedex.

"_Tyrogue, the Scuffle Pokemon. __To brush up on its fighting skills, it will challenge anyone. It has a very strong competitive spirit. This Tyrogue is Male, and is steadfast and loves flair from birth. It knows the following moves: Mach Punch, Bullet Punch, Tackle, Mind Reader, Foresight and Vacuum Wave. It h_a_s the following ability: Vital Spirit. "_

The Pokedex's brief insight was able to give Ash a good picture of Beat. It muse be very strong, and it's move set was pretty rare. Bit Ash had one thing on his mind now.

It was time to train.

* * *

><p>Over the next few days, Ash and Leaf had traveled a good distance, and if Ash had to guess, they were only a few hour's journey away from Damp Depression. Officer Jenny had been kind enough to point them in the right direction.<p>

As they were walking down the path, Ash stared at Beat. His new friend had joined in their training program perfectly and was already on par with Flash and Torchic. That suggested that Beat had been training _very _hard in the wild.

Ash shifted his attention to Cutie who had recovered from that horrible experience in not time, and was trying to find flowers or some Pokemon to hug. Finally, Leaf called.

"Look, civilization!" Ash ran to catch up with the over energetic female and his feet touched hard ground. He looked around him and he saw Leaf waiting at the gate to Damp Depression. They walked through it, thankful to have finally reached this town, and spotted the Pokemon Center. They walked in through the double doors, and got themselves set up in a room. It was time to sleep. The events of the past week had taken their toll on them, and only a good night's rest in a soft bed was enough re-energize them.

* * *

><p><strong>So, Chapter 2 is finally here. I didn't introduce May and Max like I originally planned but expect to see their debut sooner or later. We also see a glimpse of Ash's past, and a reason for his hatred towards Team Shift.<strong>

**Someone suggested that I should only accept guest votes through reviews, and I agree. People with accounts, please vote through the poll on my profile, because I am NOT accepting any more reviews of members through reviews, only guests. Also, I have deleted the author's note, and so I have lost a few reviews as people reviewed for that chapter. I am providing the names of people who lost their reviews:**

**A guest named Traveler (dont worry, I have counted your vote for Othello Shipping)**

**Hunter95**

The Detective of South-East

jtcookie96

**Has anyone read The Road To Be A Pokemon Master: Kanto Arc? If you have, then you must know that the author answers questions at the end of each chapter. I want to do something like that, so people, please ask questions about the Dreamaria Region. Please.**

**I honestly don't have anything more to say, except Happy Halloween!**

**Please, review, follow, favourite and vote. Bye! See you all next chapter!**


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